Six Olympians Headline a Star Studded Field of Riders for 2005 Monmouth County Horse Show

Wellington, Fl – August 12, 2005 – The 110th Annual Monmouth County Horse Show, held at East Freehold Park, in Freehold, New Jersey, is New Jersey’s longest running and most prestigious equestrian competition. The show, which runs from August 17th through August 21, 2005, will feature top show jumping riders, including five United States Olympians and a member of the Irish Olympic team.

Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, New York, Anne Kursinski from Frenchtown, New Jersey, Peter Leone of Greenwich, Connecticut, Lisa Jacquin of Wayne, Pennsylvania, Nona Garson of Lebanon, New Jersey and Kevin Babington from Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, headline a first class jumper division. The riders will be focused on the highlight event of the five day show, the $30,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix on Sunday, August 21st at 1pm.

Madden, a member of the 2004 Silver Medal Show Jumping squad at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, comes to the Monmouth County Horse Show from Europe, where she’s been competing with the United States Equestrian Team on the Samsung Super League Tour. Madden, enjoying one of her best seasons ever, is this year’s winner of America’s richest show jumping event, the $150,000 Budweiser American Invitational. Madden also led the victory gallop at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Cup at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in June.

Frenchtown, New Jersey’s Anne Kursinski, a veteran of four Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta, makes Monmouth a stop on her 2005 tour. Kursinski, winner of this year’s $60,000 Lincoln Idle Dice Classic, in Wellington, Florida, also picked up top prizes this year in the $75,000 Cosequin Florida Open and the $50,000 Kilkenny/ICH International Cup in March and the $75,000 I Love New York Grand Prix in July. Lisa Jacquin of Wayne, Pennsylvania was a part of two United States Olympic teams, in Seoul, Korea in 1988 and Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

Kevin Babington, based in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, rode for his home country of Ireland in the Olympic Games at Athens, in 2004. Nona Garson of Lebanon, New Jersey, is joined by Peter Leone of Greenwich, Connecticut, to round out the roster of Olympians. Garson was a member of the United States Olympic Show Jumping Team at Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and Leone was part of the 1996 Silver Medal winning Olympic team from the Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Leone was victorious in the Grand Derby and named Leading Rider of CSI* Dinard, France, on August 5-7th.

Kent Farrington, the Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix defending champion, is returning to Monmouth, trying to make it two in a row. Farrington has posted wins in the $75,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Devon and the $60,000 Lake Placid Grad Prix.

Two additional members of the 2005 United States Equestrian Team Samsung Super League tour are also scheduled for the 110th edition of the Monmouth County Horse Show. Christine Tribble and Callen Solem, teammates on the Samsung Super League at Rotterdam, Netherlands, will be competing.

One of America’s hottest riders, Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, New Jersey, has six grand prix wins on the season and is scheduled to appear. Adding to this already impressive list of competitors is junior rider, Brianne Goutal. Goutal comes to the Monmouth County Horse Show fresh off a double Gold Medal winning performance at the 2005 North American Young Riders Championship in Lexington, Virginia.

Laura Chapot’s father, Frank Chapot, will be honored for his years of service, in special ceremonies just prior to the start of Sunday’s $30,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix.

PHOTO CREDIT: Beezie Madden on DeSilvio at the Samsung Super League at St. Gallen, Switzerland. Photo by Dirk Caremans.