Tampa, FL - March 26, 2003 - Canadian show jumping rider Keean White once again proved himself a force to be reckoned with, placing third in the $30,000 Ariat WEF Challenge Cup Final in Tampa, Florida.

In the competition, which also acted as the final World Cup Qualifier for the U.S. East Coast League, White of Cambridge, ON, was the first rider to take to the grand prix ring from a field of 33 horse-rider combinations. Riding Libidou, his 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Topas, White mastered the course despite being the first rider out of the gate, joining six other competitors in the jump-off. Again the first to go, White repeated his initial faultless round in a time of 38.88 seconds.

“It was big and tough, but it was a very good course and you could pick up a bit of pace,” said White, who has just turned 20, of the indoor course designed by Mehves Trak of Turkey. “In the jump-off, I went quick and clean, but not quick enough that I couldn’t be beaten. Overall, Libidou jumped one of the best classes of her life.”

Of the six riders who followed, 2000 Sydney Olympian Laura Kraut gave the winning performance, clocking in at 36.87 with May. The only rider with two horses in the jump-off, Kraut, 37, also placed fifth with Allegiance with eight faults.

Another United States Equestrian Team veteran, Leslie Howard, 46, also posted a clear round in the jump-off with a time of 37.04 seconds riding her 2002 World Equestrian Games partner, Priobert de Kalvarie, an 11-year-old Belgian-bred gelding owned by Higher Ground Farm. White took third place while the only other rider to produce double clear rounds, Florida’s own Candice King, took fourth after going slow and steady, clocking in at 43.92 seconds, over five seconds slower than White’s time.

In addition to his third place finish with Libidou, White also tied for eighth position after having four faults in the first round with his nine-year-old selle francais gelding, Arriscraft Rocca.

“Arriscraft Rocca had a cheap four faults, the rail rolled off backwards,” explained White, who was competing in his fourth World Cup Qualifier, having done two in Canada during the 2002 season and another in Tampa on March 23. “It was my best finish in a World Cup Qualifier ever and I couldn’t have asked for more from either of my horses.”

White and Arriscraft Rocca had also placed fourth in the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup held during the CSI-W Tampa Classic on March 20.

White began his successful Florida circuit with a win in the $25,000 ‘Just Jumping in Jacksonville’ Grand Prix riding Libidou while Arriscraft Rocca placed fourth. During the five-week HITS Ocala circuit, White earned a ribbon in every Sunday Grand Prix, including a fourth place finish in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix on February 9 with Arriscraft Rocca and a sixth placed in the $50,000 King Shavings Grand Prix on February 23 with Libidou. He ended the five-week Ocala circuit with a sixth place finish in the $100,000 Volvo Grand Prix riding Arriscraft Rocca.

His stellar performances earned him the position of alternate for the Canadian Team contesting the Nations Cup in Wellington, where, competing as an individual, he placed fifth with Arriscraft Rocca in the $7,500 Cosequin 1.45 m Speed competition held March 5, his first day of showing. Moving to Tampa, White placed sixth in the $20,000 1.5m Classic with Libidou on March 22.

As the Florida circuit draws to a close, White will return to Angelstone Farm and Ridgeview Stables in Cambridge, ON, before traveling west to Vancouver in May to contest the Canadian Show Jumping Team Selection Trials for the Pan American Games to be held this summer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

One of Canada’s top up-and-coming riders, White was a member of the silver medal teams at both the 2002 and 2001 North American Young Riders’ Championships, having also won a team bronze medal in 2000. He capped off his 2002 season by winning the National Talent Squad Championship at the 2002 Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON, with Arriscraft Rocca.

$30,000 Ariat WEF Challenge Cup Final, CSI-W Tournament of Champions – March 26