WORCESTER, MA (September 22, 2003)--Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, Florida, and Roller Coaster, an eight-year-old grey Holsteiner gelding, owned by Elaine Decanio of Pittstown, New Jersey, won the $100,000 King Shavings Grand Prix at the Marshall & Sterling League National Indoor Finals. Minikus, who served as the Alternate for the USET 2000 Olympic Games Show Jumping squad, thrilled the crowd at Worcester's Centrum Centre with a fine display of horsemanship. The $100,000 King Shavings Grand Prix was the grand finale of five days of competition at the new venue for the Marshall & Sterling League National Indoor Finals.

Jonathon Millar of Perth, Ontario, and Karat, a fifteen-year-old grey gelding, owned by Mr. & Mrs. Don Stewart Jr. of Ocala, Florida, took second place in the competition. Jonathon, the son of Olympic veteran Ian Millar, is proving that success runs in this great equestrian family.

Third place went to Jeffrey Welles of Ridgefield, Connecticut, aboard Equinox, a Dutch Warmblood gelding, owned by Elizabeth Saunders of Connecticut.

Twenty-seven horse and rider pairs competed over a challenging thirteen-obstacle first-round course designed by David Ballard from Hornby, Ontario. The course included one double combination - fence No. 7, and one triple combination - fence No. 11. The time allowed was set at 84 seconds. The triple cost a number of riders their clear round. The crowd had to wait until Millar, who was twenty-first in the order, to see the first horse go clear. Millar and Karat left all the rails up, crossing the timers in 83.57 seconds, .43 of a second inside the time allowed. Minikus, who was twenty-fifth in the order, was the only other rider to post a clear round.

With the excitement of a jump-off guaranteed, the crowd waited for Millar to return to the ring to compete over the shortened six-fence course. Karat jumped the first fence beautifully, but gave a refusal at the second. The pair continued and finished out the course with two knockdowns, for a total of 12 faults in a time of 41.31 seconds. Minikus and Roller Coaster followed up with an eight-fault trip in a time of 36.83 seconds.

It looked like an easy win for Minikus, however, he was not over-confident before entering the ring. "Roller Coaster is still a young horse and I wasn't sure if he was going to keep his concentration. We had a very good first round, but he was acting up a bit in the previous speed class, so I just wasn't sure how it was going to go."

Competition ended on Sunday at the inaugural Marshall & Sterling League National Indoor Finals. Spectators from Massachusetts and neighboring states enjoyed five days of top-level Hunter/Jumper competition.

The League looks forward to returning to Worcester's Centrum Centre in 2004 for its National Indoor Finals. For a full listing of results from the Finals, please visit http://www.hitsshows.com/resultssummer-03.html

For more information on the Marshall & Sterling League, please visit www.HitsShows.com/marshallsterling

MEDIA CONTACT: Mary Creech, HITS Media & Public Relations, 319 Main Street, Saugerties, New York 12477-1330. Tel: 845-246-8833. E-Mail: creechmm@cs.com