Las Vegas, NV - It was Ladies night at the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals as Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum of Germany dominated the field of 36 to win the Rolex FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final II at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Shutterfly, owned by Octavia Farms LLC. Beat Mandli of Switzerland placed second on Ideo du Thot and Marco Kutscher of Germany and Cash were third.

The win moved Michaels-Beerbaum up from the eighth place in Thursday’s first round to tie with Steve Guerdat of Switzerland for the lead going into Sunday’s World Cup Final.

“That’s great!” said Michaels-Beerbaum of her current status. “It’s better than eighth! I knew I had to move up. I felt I had to get something done tonight.”

The win did not come easy. The Guilherme Jorge designed course yielded eight in the jump-off with the first four riders having rails down.

Kutscher set the standard going without fault in the jump-off in a time of 32.01 seconds. Then Mandli accepted the challenge and beat Kutscher’s time with a clean round jump-off score of 30.89. Michaels-Beerbaum was up next and jumped to the top of the leader board racing around on Shutterfly in a blistering time of 29.38 with two left to jump. Leopold van Asten of the Netherlands and Steve Guerdat of Switzerland tried but failed to go clear leaving Michaels-Beerbaum - the 2005 World Cup Champion - tied for the lead and in an excellent position for Sunday’s Final.

“The difference between 2005 and this year is that the relationship between Shutterfly and me is better than two years ago,” said Michaels-Beerbaum. “I wanted to show that here.”

A total of 28 riders go through to Sunday’s final challenge as one-third of the original start-list of 41 qualified for the closing competition.

The results of Friday’s World Cup Show Jumping class, combined with the results of Thursday’s opening competition, are used to set the starting lineup for Sunday’s final rounds determining this year’s Rolex FEI World Cup Show Jumping Champion.

Saturday’s jumping lineup features the $75,000 Las Vegas Grand Prix for horses not competing in Sunday’s final round. In addition, the class is open to select other horses. This Grand Prix is a one round table “A” competition with four penalties for each knockdown or refusal. Those tied for first after the first round advance to the tie-breaking jump-off. The jump- off is held against the clock to determine the winner.

Also on Saturday, the World Champion Hunter Rider World Cup Team Hunter Challenge will once again take place. Four top U.S. hunter riders will face four top European jumper riders on world class horses. In 2005, the US team lost to the Europeans, so it will be a rematch not to be missed!

Started in 1979, the FEI World Cup Jumping Final is an annual international showdown among the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. The 2007 event will mark the seventh FEI World Cup Jumping Final to be held in the United States, following Finals in Baltimore in 1980, Tampa, FL in 1989, Del Mar, CA in 1992 and the three in Las Vegas in 2000, 2003 and 2005. In the 28 finals held through 2006, United States riders have emerged with the most titles, having won the championship seven times.

First held in 1986, the FEI World Cup Dressage Final has been held in the U.S. only twice, in 1995 in Los Angeles and 2005 in Las Vegas. The Netherlands has dominated the competition, winning seven times, followed by Germany with six. The United States won its first title in 2003 when Debbie McDonald rode Brentina to the Championship. Brentina is owned by Parry and Peggy Thomas of Las Vegas, for whom the Thomas & Mack Center, the venue for the World Cup Finals, is named.

Las Vegas Events, Inc. (LVE), producer of the 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2007 FEI World Cup Finals, was founded in 1983. LVE has grown with Las Vegas as the city emerged as one of the world’s top special event and resort destinations. A private, not-for-profit organization, LVE is funded by hotel room tax and serves as the exclusive major special events agency for the city. Since 1991, Las Vegas Events has produced, presented or supported more than 390 events, which have driven more than 3.3 million visitors to the area, resulting in an economic impact of more than $2 billion.

Fans wanting to bring home the excitement of every ride of the 2007 Rolex FEI World CupTM Finals will be able to do so with full-coverage DVDs. DVDs of the Dressage and Jumping Finals will be available for each of Friday, Saturday, & Sunday’s Sessions and will include every minute of action from those sessions. The DVDs of each session will be available for sale at the Thomas & Mack Center starting Saturday and will also be available on line.

The Animal Planet television network will televise a special 90-minute broadcast of the 2007 Rolex FEI World CupTM Finals on Saturday, May 12 beginning at 9:00 p.m. (EDT). The telecast will include the Finals in both jumping and dressage.

Further information on the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping and Dressage Finals is available on line at the official Las Vegas World Cup website at www.worldcuplasvegas.com.

Photo Credit: Merideth Michaels-Beerbaum by Diana DeRosa