Del Mar, CA—July 22, 2002—After three rounds of competition in the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Show Jumping Selection Trials for the 2002 World Equestrian Games, Lauren Hough and her Sydney Olympic mount, Clasiko, lead a field of thirty-eight horse-and-rider combinations with a total score of four faults. The first three trials to select the team to compete at the 2002 World Equestrian Games to be held in Jerez, Spain this September ran July 20-21 at the Del Mar Horse Park in Del Mar, CA.

Hough and Clasiko turned in clear rounds in Selection Trial #1 and Selection Trial #3. Knocking down only one rail in Selection Trial #2, Hough’s score of four faults over the first three trials puts her in first place going into the final three trials which will take place at the Oaks Blenheim International CSI-A, July 26 and 28.

Posting clear scores in Selection Trial #1 and Selection Trial #3 was Ray Texel on Lexicon. Texel finished with five faults in Trial #2 to put him in second place behind Hough in the overall standings. Hough and Texel are the only two riders to jump two fault-free rounds at this point in the trials.

Bezzie Madden and Judgement and Nicole Shahainian Simpson and El Campeon’s Cirka Z currently share the third position on the list with a total of eight faults. Both riders finished with four-fault performances in Trial #2 and Trial #3.

Five riders have incurred twelve faults in the Selection Trials thus far. Those riders are Molly Ashe/Kroon Gravin, Margie Goldstein Engle/Hidden Creek’s Perin, Leslie Howard/Priobert Kalvarie, Ray Texel/Fleur, and McLain Ward /Viktor.

With three rounds left to jump, the competition moves up the coast to The Oaks/Blenheim International CSI-A in San Juan Capistrano for trials four though six, July 26-28.

For a full list of results and current standings, please visit the USET website at www.uset.org.

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.