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Hickstead, Great Britain - July 30, 2006 - Molly Ashe claimed the Queen Elizabeth 11 Cup for the second time in her career and recorded the third US victory since 2001 when heading the strong line-up at Hickstead today riding the 14 year old Dutch-bred Lutopia.

In what was one of the most competitive Queen's Cup classes for some time there were just five into the jump-off, and the 35 year old Floridian won from her last-to-go position in convincing fashion, while fellow-American Anne Kursinski slotted into fourth with Roxana.

Despite its long history and impressive roll of honour dating back to 1949 the ladies competition had lost some of its appeal until recent years, but its sparkle seems to have been restored with more and more top competitors taking part, and since Candice King headed the field with Elu de la Hardiere in 2001 it has been a happy hunting ground for the US contingent. Ashe and Lutopia were victorious in 2004 and Laura Kraut was defending her 2005 title with Anthem who was looking every inch the winner until catching the second element of the penultimate double for four faults that kept her out of the deciding round.

Kursinski was sixth to go first time out and produced a quality clear from Roxana but, pathfinder against the clock, left the vertical at fence two and the first part of the combination, now reduced to two jumping efforts, on the floor. Starting slots in the second round were decided on time so Britain's Jane Annett was next into the ring with the handsome Irish-bred Cullawn Diamond whose powerful build looks more suited to the hunting field than the international show jumping arena.

Annett has been out of action for the last few weeks after dislocating her ankle in a nasty fall from Diamond when they got it all wrong at the Hickstead water during last month's Derby meeting. She handed her horse over to British ace John Whitaker for the Derby competition as a result, but Diamond turned out to be a bit of a one-woman horse when he ground to a halt early on the track even though he was being guided by one of the masters of the sport. With Jane back in the saddle however he is clearly happy as a king again despite the fact that his jockey is still not very sound and Annett, who finished second in the Queen's competition on two previous occasions, opted for a clean and careful tour of the seven-fence jump-off track to return with a zero score in 53.33 seconds.

She was followed into the ring by fellow-Briton Jo Pay and the fiery Randi's Gold, sired by John Whitaker's great old campaigner Randi, but a sharp angle to the oxer at fence three and a mistake at fence eight proved costly. Holland's Angelique Hoorn scooped the title with Hascal in 2002 and has found herself another exciting new partner in the 10 year old stallion Blauwendraad's O'Brien who was a class act first time out and who was clear all the way to the very last - "it was completely my fault there" she said afterwards, "I was going too fast and I arrived much too deep" she explained after collecting four faults. Her time of 43.71 seconds was to prove quickest of the entire competition but there was nothing slow about the winning performance of Ashe and Lutopia who set off with determination to seal victory when home and clear in 45.69.

Ashe described this year's Queen Elizabeth 11 Cup as "a great competition and a lot tougher than the last time I was here" but pointed out that she thought it would be "much fairer to pool the prize money for the men's and women's competitions so that the girls can jump for better money. This is the only show I have competed in that has a separate men's and women's classes but there are no ranking points available for the girls and not enough prize money in our class either" she pointed out after collecting the US$5,590 first prize. "If you win the King's Cup you get CSIO qualifying points - it doesn't seem right to me" she pointed out adding, "but the Queen's competition still has great prestige attached to it".

Annett had to settle for runner-up spot yet again ahead of Hoorn who spoke a little about her stallion. "I have him only three months and he only has a little experience at 1.40m and 1.50m level. His first international show was at Munchen where he was ninth in the Grand Prix, then he went to Gelderland where he was fourth and in Geesteren a few weeks ago he was second in the Grand Prix - every time he has had four faults in the jump-off, just like here, but this time it was my mistake, not his and I'm very excited about him" she said.

An outbreak of Swamp Fever in Ireland has caused some concern in recent weeks but Gerry McAuliffe, Show Director for Dublin Horse Show, said yesterday that it is restricted to a small number of thoroughbreds and would not affect the staging of Ireland's top equestrian fixture which kicks off on August 9th. Ashe is looking forward to being there along with the remainder of the US team that includes Kursinski, King and Kraut and US Chef d'Equipe, George Morris, said today "we've had Swamp Fever in the US for years and you can't freak out every time it appears. When you go to shows horses are always exposed to risks and there is no point in getting paranoid about it, I'm sure it will be fine. I'm confident my team will do well in Dublin" he pointed out and Ashe is optimistic that Nations Cup day at the Irish fixture could be a special one. "It's my birthday that day" she said, "so it would be great to celebrate it with a win!".

Meanwhile Mr. Morris would not be drawn to comment on the situation the Irish team is facing now that their top rider, World No. 2 Jessica Kuerten, has refused to line out for either the Super League or WEG due to yet another disagreement with Ireland's show jumping authorities. She is particularly pointing the finger at new team manager Robert Splaine who left her off the team at Lucerne and who, she says, should now resign. George Morris did say however that "what's important is playing our sport. I love winning but there is more to it than that. It's about the people, the camaraderie and the friendships. The blue ribbon is what we are all looking for but it's about the whole package. I rode for 60 years and was at top level for 50, I love the horses, the people, the venues - the sport is about all of those things" he pointed out. And he added "I get along great with Jessica and all the Irish boys, they are good friends of mine. All I have to say is that I like Robert Splaine - he's a gentleman, and a horseman".

And the final drama of the Royal International at Hickstead unfolded itself during the King George V Gold Cup which was won by Frenchman Roger Yves Bost riding Ideal de la Loge - but it was Britain's Nick Skelton who was the attention-grabber. John Hales' super-stallion Arko was top horse in the 2005 Samsung Super League series but has become unpredictable in recent months giving the British rider some uncomfortable moments and, meeting the double of gates on an awkward stride after faulting at the previous water, the horse jammed on the brakes, sending his rider into a somersault. There was a sharp intake of breath from the sidelines because Skelton broke his neck in a fall some years ago but the rider got to his feet while Arko galloped off wildly and very nearly jumped back into the pocket, proving difficult to catch because he had parted with his bridle. This looks to have put paid to any plans to include this horse and rider combination in the British WEG squad.