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Articles: Press Release
Schuyler Riley Leaps into World Cup Final Contention with Second Place
Finish in $75,000 Bainbridge Idle Dice Classic
Photo Credit: Schuyler Riley and Ilian competing in the $75,000
Bainbridge Idle Dice Classic Grand Prix at Wellington, FL - Photo
(c)2007 Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com.
Contact:
Kenneth Kraus of
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at info@phelpsmediagroup.com
Wellington, FL - February 27, 2007 - Wellington, Florida's Schuyler
Riley, aboard her seventeen year-old veteran partner Ilian, scored a
second place finish in Sunday's $75,000 Bainbridge Idle Dice Classic,
presented by the Palm Beach Post, at the 2007 Winter Equestrian
Festival. With that top finish, Riley vaulted into contention for one of
the coveted final spots at the Rolex World Cup Finals in Las Vegas in
April.
Riley finished second to McLain Ward and Sapphire in the Sunday event.
With the victory, Ward takes over the lead in the East Coast World Cup
League with 81 points. Riley picked up 17 points for her second place
finish and moved into fifth place in the standings with just two
qualifying events remaining before the final roster of riders is
determined.
Riley knew that it would be a tough task to catch Ward and his Olympic
Gold Medal partner Sapphire, and she expressed that she was very happy
with the second place finish and the valuable World Cup points that
accompanied that top prize. "It was a little bit of a hard decision
because I know McLain, even on a 'not-so-fast' horse, is really fast. My
horse is naturally fast across the ground, and I was trying to balance
out the desire for a clear with the desire to try and beat McLain," she
said. "I was hoping that just my footspeed with a faster horse might
catch him. I wasn't really trying to go full throttle because I wanted
to leave the jumps up today."
"Ilian has been jumping on this field for ten years," said Riley of her
long-time equine partner. "This is his tenth season down here, and he
feels pretty darn good. When you have him feeling good, he's such a nice
riding horse. He has such a huge heart," she said. "I knew we had a good
shot for today."
Riley is aiming for her third Las Vegas World Cup Final appearance,
having competed there in 2000 and again in 2005, both times on Ilian.
"You have to be a little bit careful and place your horses. It's really
tempting to go every week because there's so much going on," she
explained. "I've been trying to gear him up for these two World Cup
weeks, and he seems to be feeling in good form."
Riley and Ilian will return to action this Sunday in the $100,000 Zada
Enterprises LLC Masters Cup CSI-W. A top placing here, or in the final
event, the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa on April 1, will assure Riley and
Ilian of their third visit to the World Cup Finals.
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