Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day To Kick off 30th Annual Hampton Classic

$20,000 David Yurman Time Challenge to be Featured

Bridgehampton, NY—July 28, 2005—Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day will kick off this year’s Hampton Classic Horse Show on Sunday, August 28, with an exhilarating mix of equestrian and family fun. “Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day is one of the Hampton Classic’s best loved traditions,” said Hampton Classic Executive Director Tony Hitchcock. “The day’s highlights include the David Yurman Time Challenge, featuring some of our nation’s leading Grand Prix riders, a full schedule of competitions for Long Island horsemen, leadline classes for our sport’s stars of the future, plus our World of the Horse demonstrations. All of this excitement is a perfect start to the action-packed week ahead!”

At 8:00 a.m., competition begins in every arena except the Grand Prix Ring. This ring gets underway at 9:00 a.m. with the leadline competitions, where nearly 100 youngsters under the age of 7 and their ponies will fill the ring with smiles and laughter for several hours.

World of the Horse

Following the leadline classes, Manhattan Mortgage's Opening Day Ceremonies begin at 12:00 noon with the World of the Horse. Highlighting the World of the Horse will be a dressage demonstration by Katherine Bateson. Bateson is a trainer at Robert Dover’s Romance Farm, which is located in Bridgehampton for the summer months and in Wellington, Florida in the winter. Dover is a six-time Olympic dressage rider and will give a special dressage exhibition in the Grand Prix ring just before the start of the $100,000 Prudential Douglas Elliman Grand Prix on Sunday, September 4.

David Yurman Time Challenge

Headlining the festivities on Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day is the $20,000 David Yurman Time Challenge. David Yurman, the renowned jewelry designer, has a long history as a major sponsor of the Hampton Classic. More than thirty top show jumping riders and horses are expected to compete in the third annual running of this popular speed jumping class. Last year, hometown hero Joe Fargis of Southampton, New York, won this class aboard Diams III, owned by Mary B. Schwab & Oeji Farm.

Throughout this day (and all week!) families are welcome to visit the World of the Horse exhibition tent and show yard with its playground set. Located behind the main Grandstands, the popular llamas and alpacas are on hand for viewing and petting as are Millstones Farm’s miniature horses and Arrieta Farm’s beautiful black Friesians. Scorpion Farms offers pony rides for kids in the Exhibition Yard and the Double-Bar-D petting zoo displays formerly abandoned little farm animals that were rescued and saved by this wonderful, caring farm. New for 2005, the Childrens’ Museum of the East End (CMEE) will have a display with hands-on children’s activities every day. This beautifully designed new museum in Bridgehampton will open its doors to the public this fall.

Not only does Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day provide a great way to enjoy a day of family entertainment for all ages, but it is also chance to come and get first pick of the choice wares from the many Boutiques, including the famous and much-coveted Hampton Classic merchandise such as souvenir t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, mugs and other "Classic" memorabilia including this year’s striking 30th Anniversary Poster! There are many new boutiques this year, both in the Garden and along Stable Row—and there is sure to be something for everyone!

The Long Island Railroad offers a special one day package for those traveling to the Opening Day Festivities. Special train service will be provided for spectators interested in attending the show with morning departures from Penn Station (7:48 a.m.), Woodside (8:50), Brooklyn (7:78), Jamaica (8:16) and Merrick (8:40). The group will arrive at the Bridgehampton Station at around 10:15 a.m., and a bus will transport spectators to the Hampton Classic showgrounds. The group will be given a guided tour of the grounds. Departure is at 4:10 p.m. For more information call 718-217-LIRR (NYC), 516-822-LIRR (Nassau), or 631-231-LIRR (Suffolk).

Hampton Classic Horse Show Features Nation’s Best

Each year the Hampton Classic Horse Show attracts more than 50,000 spectators and celebrities to watch the country’s best horses and riders compete. With the crème de la crème of show jumping riders attending the show and a star-studded audience cheering them on, the Hampton Classic is a weeklong sports and entertainment spectacle.

There simply is no other competition that brings together the thrill and prestige of the hunter-jumper circuit with so many thousands of spectators, extravagant social events and celebrities, all surrounded by the beaches and elegant villages of Long Island’s summer playground—The Hamptons.

This year’s horse show will also feature the $30,000 Sotheby’s International Realty World Cup Qualifier and the Calvin Klein Show Jumping Derby Qualifier on Friday, September 2 and Cablevision’s Kids Day/Dia de los Ninos and the $25,000 FENDI Cup on Saturday, September 3. The following day is Grand Prix Sunday, September 4, and this day will include the $100,000 Prudential Douglas Elliman Grand Prix and the $25,000 Calvin Klein Show Jumping Derby. Grand Prix Sunday will also feature a dressage demonstration by six-time Olympic dressage rider Robert Dover, the most accomplished dressage rider in U.S. history!

Competition runs from Sunday, August 28 through Sunday, September 4 with a break in competition on Monday, August 29. Admission is $10 per person or $20 per carload, with children under 6 admitted free. Reserved grandstand seating for Sunday, September 4 is $15 per person (in addition to regular admission) or $25 per person in the special Premium Seating center sections. Parking is free throughout the week.

For more information on Manhattan Mortgage Company’s Opening Day and the Hampton Classic Horse Show, please visit the Hampton Classic website at www.hamptonclassic.com or call (631) 537-3177.