Articles: Press Release

Contact:
Kenneth Kraus of Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com

Wellington, FL - March 5, 2009 -- Georgina Bloomberg of New York City raced her new partner Street of Diamonds to a hard fought win in the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup on Thursday at FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Bloomberg triumphed over eighty-six of the world's best show jumpers, one of the largest starting fields in the twenty year history of the Challenge Cup series, to secure the win. She was one of only six riders that were able to negotiate the extremely difficult first round course without penalty, and then went on to produce a second clear performance in 40.60 seconds that netted her the top prize. The victory also assured Bloomberg a position in Saturday night's $200,000 World Cup Qualifier, one of only two remaining events that offer points towards a spot at this year's World Cup Finals in Las Vegas in April.

Street of Diamonds, an 11 year-old French mare, is one of Bloomberg's newest mounts. "I'm very happy with her," smiled Bloomberg following her victory gallop. "She was great today. She's a new horse for me, and anytime you can step up, especially in a big class like this against the best competition in the world and grab a win, it's a great feeling. I'm very optimistic about her chances as we continue to get to know each other better."

"I haven't had a horse that's been my type of horse in quite a while," Bloomberg explained. "I've had horses that have been good, and I've had horses that could go clear, but I haven't had one that can really run in the jump-off till Street of Diamonds," she said.

Bloomberg, who has had tremendous success during her career, saw all of that momentum and winning come to an end as the 2007 season drew to a close. A combination of injuries to her horses, and an admitted bad attitude sent her back to square one. Today was a major step forward along the road back to consistent contention among the world's elite riders. "It's been a long road," she laughed. "It's been a long struggle, but I've really put the time in, getting back. I've worked really hard for the last two years and I feel like it's going to pay off, especially with this horse."

"It's been a lot of fun," Bloomberg smiled. "Of course it's always more fun when your horses are going well, but this year has been so much different. I've really dedicated myself and worked really hard. The horses have been going really well and we've been feeding off each others energy. That's always a great feeling," she said.

Bloomberg returns to the show ring for Saturday night's main event under the lights, and will compete in the days ahead in the $400,000 FTI Grand Prix at WEF, and the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on April 4th.