Defending World Cup Champions Debbie McDonald and Brentina (HAN, Brentano II - Lieselotte) were victorious in the $25,000 U.S. Grand Prix Freestyle Championship/U.S. League Final held February 27 - 29, 2004 during the CDI-W Burbank & Mid Winter Dressage Fair at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in California. McDonald and Brentina, a chestnut Hanoverian mare owned by Peggy Thomas of Sun Valley, Idaho, scored 82.325% in the Grand Prix Freestyle to win the U.S. Equestrian-sponsored Championship and Final.

Scoring 78.975% in the Freestyle, Leslie Morse of Beverly Hills, California and Kingston claimed the Reserve Championship. Kingston, a brown Dutch Warmblood stallion, is owned by Morse who also rode him to victory in the 2003 Bayer Festival of Champions USET Grand Prix Championship.

Defending champions of the 2003 U.S. Grand Prix Freestyle Championship/U.S. League Final, Guenter Seidel and Nikolaus 7 (WES, Weinberg - Elise), a bay Westphalian gelding owned by Richard and Jane Brown of Carlsbad, California, placed third with a Freestyle score of 76.850%. Seidel also rode Aragon (BAV, Abydos - La Sabrina),, a grey Bavarian Warmblood gelding owned by Mr. & Mrs. Brown, to a fourth-place finish with a 74.225% in the Freestyle. Placing fifth in the Freestyle Championship was Steffen Peters and Grandeur (KWPN, John U To Berry xx - Cicsca) with a score of 73.475%. The bay Dutch Warmblood gelding is owned by Lila Kommerstad of Bradbury, California.

McDonald and Brentina now return to defend their World Cup title in Dusseldorf, Germany, April 1 - 4, 2004. As a result of this U.S. League Final, she will be joined by Morse and Kingston and Seidel with Nikolaus 7, who placed fourth in the World Cup Finals in Sweden last year.

ENDS
For more information, please contact Jennifer Keeler at (859) 225-2024 or via email at jkeeler@usef.org. USEF press releases are available on our web site - www.usef.org.

The United States Equestrian Federation Inc.(USEF), as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

VISION STATEMENT
The vision of the United States Equestrian Federation is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.