Contact:
Jennifer Wood of Kenneth Kraus of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com Charlotte, NC - April 12, 2008 - The 2008 Charlotte Jumper Classic hosted three exciting classes today at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Uptown Charlotte. The winner of the evening session's highlight class, the $25,000 International Accumulator, CSI, was William Simpson of Thousand Oaks, CA, on El Campeon's Tosca.

Earlier in the day, Charlie Jayne of Elgin, Illinois piloted Gangsta to the win in the $25,000 International Competition, CSI speed class. The winner of the $15,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Accumulator competition was Carolyn Kelly of New York City on Rulanda.

The courses for today's classes were designed by Steve Stephens of Florida, who will also design this year's show jumping courses at the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong. The accumulator classes are a fun addition to the riders' competition. The class has 10 jumps of increasing difficulty and points are awarded for each jump that they clear; one point for jump one, two points for jump two, and so on. At the end of the course, riders can choose to jump the "joker" fence, which can add or subtract 20 points to their total and is often the largest jump on course.

In today's International Accumulator class, the early leader was Georgina Bloomberg on District. They accumulated 59 points in a time of 58.76 seconds. Just four horses later, Callan Solem and Mianta would add up 64 points when they cleared the joker jump. They had a rail at the first jump, so they were just shy of the perfect 65 score. Their time was 53.23 seconds.

The next horse in the ring was El Campeon's Tosca with Simpson aboard. Simpson made incredible rollback turns to the jumps and made every inside option. He accumulated the highest total possible with 65 points in a time of 46.19 seconds, which was also the fastest time of the night.

No one else was able to repeat that perfect performance, but the closest to it was the last horse in the ring. Beezie Madden and Onlight had to settle for third place when they accumulated 64 points in 54.17 seconds. They cleared all of the jumps, but had one point deducted for being over the 54 second time allowed.

Simpson was excited to win with "Tosca," a horse that he has ridden for six years. Having a relationship with Tosca has led to a great partnership and the ability to make the tight turns necessary to win classes. "I have so much confidence in Tosca that I can make a turn way before I see a distance," Simpson explained. "She can still slither over the jump and keep it up. She knows her job and then can keep going to the next jump. That's the luxury of having a horse that you have that much confidence in. They're going to stay careful, and they're not going to stop."

This is Simpson's first time competing in Charlotte, and he regrets that he can't stay longer in the city. "The town is fantastic. I've been getting up in the morning and jogging around town. I only have a few nights here, but I wish I had more," he remarked.

In addition to the great surroundings, he really likes the venue of the competition. "To me, this is show jumping. This is what I wanted when I started at 13 years old. This is the venue we need to put on a show for the sport," he said.

The winner of the $15,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Accumulator class was Carolyn Kelly on her 13-year-old grey mare Rulanda. Her horse "took a little getting used to" the arena in Charlotte, but tonight she was all business. "Tonight, she just felt lovely. My goal was to be as smooth as possible, make the turns, and not take back," Kelly said.

Kelly and Rulanda finished with a perfect score of 65. Unlike the international class, there were eight perfect scores of 65, but Kelly was the fastest in 43.61 seconds. Second place went to Hillary Dobbs and Marengo, who finished in 44.42 seconds.

Kelly has shown at the Charlotte Jumper Classic for all five years of the event and said it was "really exciting" to win here. She commented, "They've done such a great job with it. You feel like you're really competing for something."

The winner earlier in the day of the $25,000 Inernational Competition, CSI speed class was Charlie Jayne on the 8-year-old Hungarian Warmblood, Gangsta. Not only was this Gangsta's first class in Charlotte, it was his first time showing indoors with Jayne. "This is my first show competing indoors with him, but he's naturally fast across the ground. He's quick and he's very good at turning," Jayne explained. "I figured that indoors should be no problem for him."

Jayne was able to make the inside turns in the one round class based on time. He pushed his horse when needed for more speed, especially after landing from the last jump to go through timers. This last bit of speed may have been what secured victory for Jayne, since his time of 49.94 seconds was just under the leading time of 49.97 seconds set earlier by Todd Minikus and Olinda. Minikus had to settle for second place, while Beezie Madden and Onlight were third.

The final day of competition for the 2008 Charlotte Jumper Classic is tomorrow with the two biggest classes on the schedule. The $50,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The $500,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte for the Charlotte Bobcats Cup will begin at 3 p.m. Other highlights tomorrow include demonstrations by the American Saddlebreds and the Budweiser Clydesdales.

For more information on the Charlotte Jumper Classic, please visit www.charlottejumperclassic.com.

Final Results: $25,000 International Accumulator, CSI
1. El Campeon's Tosca, William Simpson, El Campeon Farms: 65 points/46.19 seconds
2. Mianta, Callan Solem, Quiet Winter Farm and Redfield Farm: 64/53.23
3. Onlight, Beezie Madden, Team Onlight: 64/54.17
4. Quick Study, Lauren Hough, Lauren Hough: 59/50.74
5. District, Georgina Bloomberg, Gotham Enterprizes: 59/58.76
6. Ublesco, Cara Raether, Trelawny Farm: 58/54.06
7. Olinda, Todd Minikus, Houlihan Lawerence: 56/46.21
8. Olympia, Laura Kraut, Panic Partnership: 56/46.31

Final Results: $15,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Accumulator
1. Rulanda, Carolyn Kelly, Lulu Equestrian Enterprises: 65/43.61
2. Marengo, Hillary Dobbs, The Dobbs Group: 65/44.42
3. Electra, Andrew Ross, Andrew Ross: 65/45.45
4. Larone, Tracey Weinberg, Tracey Weinberg: 65/45.92
5. Residenz, Ali Wolff, Blacklick Bend Farm: 65/48.38
6. Ramila, Emily George, Emily George: 65/50.32
7. Felix des Noues, Alexandra Biederman, Missy Clark and North Run: 65/50.59
8. Pilot, Amelia McArdle, Amelia McArdle: 65/51/38

Final Results: $25,000 International Speed class
1. Gangsta, Charlie Jayne, Alex R. Jayne: 0 faults/49.94 seconds
2. Olinda, Todd Minikus, Houlihan Lawrence: 0/49.97
3. Onlight, Beezie Madden, Team Onlight: 0/50.42
4. Casadora, Lauren Hough, Laura Mateo: 0/52.75
5. Raimond W, Leslie Howard, Leslie Howard: 0/52.87
6. Jolly Mome, Judy Garofalo Torres, The Jolly Group: 0/53.61
7. Quincy B, Hillary Dobbs, Hillary Dobbs: 0/53.87
8. Twisther, Christine McCrea, Candy Tribble: 1/59.44