Toronto, Ontario – November 10, 2003 - Canadian Olympian Mac Cone of King, ON, celebrated his first victory of the 2003 Royal Horse Show with a win in the $20,000 Monday Night Show Jumping Challenge.

Cone, the only athlete to have represented both the Canadian and United States Equestrian Teams in international competition, topped a six-horse jump-off riding Cybella, his eight-year-old grey Holsteiner mare. Saving the best for last, Cone was the final rider into the newly-built Ricoh Coliseum to post a clear round in a time of 32.89 seconds.

Cone beat out his 1996 Atlanta Olympic teammate, Ian Millar of Perth, ON, who was the only other rider to post double clear rounds. Riding Promise Me, his mount at the recent Pan American Games, Millar stopped the clock in a time of 33.20 seconds.

As the fastest rider to incur four faults in the jump-off, Michael Grinyer of Campbellville, ON, placed third riding Alcatraz, his 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding. Grinyer, 50, placed third in the Canadian Show Jumping Championship which concluded Saturday at the Royal Horse Show. Grinyer’s time of 33.87 seconds was enough to edge 23-year-old Lauren Hayes of Cheltenham, ON, who clocked in with a time of 34.67 seconds riding Iron Horse Nicarta after being the first competitor to contest the jump-off course set by Canada’s own David Ballard.

Placing fifth was Beth Underhill of Schomberg, ON, riding Magdaline, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Darryl B. Williams and Associates. Elliott Stone of Midland, ON, rounded out the jump-off competitors with a sixth place finish riding Michael Stone’s Ancho de Pomme.

Underhill enjoyed a win earlier in the night when she scored victory in the Six-Year-Old National Championship, part of the Young Horse Jumper Development Series. Riding Mystical Sprite, an Irish-bred gelding owned by Burmonds and Nancy Wetmore, Underhill beat out six other horse-rider combinations in the jump-off by clocking in more than three seconds faster than her closest rival.

“I can’t tell you how much the Young Horse Jumper Development Series has meant to this horse’s career and to me as a trainer,” said Wetmore who purchased the horse in Ireland as a three-year-old. “It has allowed me to showcase my young horse with a lot of pizzazz as the Series is beautifully showcased.”

In second position was Margie Gayford who rode Southwind, a Canadian Warmblood bred in Alberta. Gayford, riding Southwind on behalf of her sister, owner Liz Gayford, jumped a clear round in a time of 35.93 seconds, coming close to scoring her second consecutive victory as the pair won the Five-Year-Old National Championship title at the 2002 Royal Horse Show.

The Royal Horse takes place at the brand-new Ricoh Coliseum at the National Trade Center from November 7-16. Show jumping competitors will compete for a total of $290,000 in prize money in the international division over ten days of competition.

For more information on the 2003 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, please visit www.royalfair.org. To purchase tickets for this year’s event, please contact Ticketmaster at (416) 870-8000.

$20,000 Monday Night Show Jumping Challenge – Final Standings