August 19, 2004 - The 2004 Vermont Summer Festival came to a close on August 15 with the awarding of circuit championships for the five weeks of overall competition. This is the 11th year the Vermont Summer Festival Horse Shows have taken place at the beautiful Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT. The Vermont Summer Festival is New England's largest "AA" rated hunter/jumper horse show circuit and ran from July 14 to August 15, showcasing the best American and international riders, as well as local equestrians, competing over challenging jumping courses.

This year's series included five $35,000 Grand Prix and five $10,000 Mini Prix. Each of the five weeks also featured Nutraceutical Corporation sponsored $10,000 Show Jumping Hall Of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper classes, part of the prestigious Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.

Additionally, the Vermont Summer Festival hosted a popular weekly exhibitor's party that welcomed and introduced riders, trainers, and grooms to the area. Each celebration took place at a different inn or resort giving partygoers a flavor of the Manchester and Dorset region. One get-together was hosted at the elegant Equinox Resort and Spa; another event saw happy competitors zipping down the Bromley Mountain slide.

"We truly want to make the competitors and their families feel welcome to our shows and this remarkable area," Marketing Executive Ruth Lacey stated. "Between a plethora of shopping outlets in downtown Manchester, elegant inns and restaurants in Dorset, and the fun Route 7 corridor down to Bennington filled with antique and gift shops, our customers can have a complete competition and New England experience."

The economic impact for local and regional businesses is truly significant during the five-week series. A conservative estimate is that a minimum of $10 million is infused into the area's economy over the course of the shows.

The Manchester Summer Festival kicked off the horse show series. The highlight of the week was the $35,000 Manchester Summer Festival Grand Prix sponsored by Orvis. Jimmy Torano of Key Biscayne, FL on his mount, Aguila, bested a blistering pace set by Canada's Harold Chopping to take the lion's share of the prize money. Owned by Sir Ruly, Inc., Aguila has been in the winner's circle before in Vermont with a victory in the 2002 $35,000 Vermont Grand Prix.

The Orvis Company (http://www.orvis.com/), a local business and the nation's oldest mail order company, was the sponsor for the Manchester Summer Festival Grand Prix. The Orvis Company headquarters have been in Manchester, Vermont, since the company was founded in 1856. British and English equine style and culture have always influenced Orvis, so the Vermont Summer Festival was a natural fit for the nation's finest distinctive country lifestyle brand. For his victory, Torano was presented The Battenkill Cup by Orvis Company Vice-President Dave Perkins along with a specially crafted Orvis leather bag.

During the Manchester Classic show, the second week of the series, Team Molson member Angela Covert-Lawrence of Montreal, Quebec jumped to the top in the $35,000 Manchester Classic Grand Prix to take the Otter Creek Cup. Marc and Louise Sabbah's eight year-old Belgian Warmblood Tomboy Major was her speedy partner.

"Riding for Team Molson is a high honor," Covert-Lawrence stated. "I truly appreciate the efforts they've made to improve Canadian show jumping." Covert-Lawrence and Tomboy Major have already notched several big victories this year in Canada. Part of Covert-Lawrence's winnings today will be donated to the International Movement for a Just World, a humanitarian organization she believes does vital and important work.

With J'Aime La Vie, owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Bartko, Tracy Bartko-Magness of Baltimore, MD closed out the third week of the shows, the Valley Classic, with a victory in the $35,000 Valley Classic Grand Prix sponsored by the Equinox Resort and Spa (http://www.equinox.rockresorts.com/). Bartko-Magness was given the coveted Mount Equinox Cup for her win by Gary Thulander, General Manager of the Equinox Resort and Spa.

During the fourth event, the Manchester & The Mountains Horse Show, Danielle Torano of Key Biscayne, FL took her turn on the winner's podium. The wife of Jimmy Torano (the winner of the $35,000 Manchester Summer Festival Grand Prix sponsored by Orvis during the first week of the series) proved her own riding abilities with a fine victory over rival Shachine Belle of South Salem, NY.

After winning the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur Owner Jumper Classic three weeks in a row at the Vermont Summer Festival, Torano set her sights on the $35,000 Manchester & The Mountains Grand Prix sponsored by Hand Motors (http://www.handmotors.com/). With her mount, Quinault, an 8 year-old Oldenburg gelding by Quidam de Revel, Torano made designer Pierre Jolicoeur's challenging course look free flowing and easy.

"We're truly becoming a team," Torano said after the class as she kissed Quinault on the nose. "He is such a special and amazing horse, and he tries so hard. It feels really great to win this class here in Vermont at these exciting shows." Quinault is owned by Torano/Laurenzo/Sir Ruly, Inc.

The fifth and final show, the Vermont Summer Celebration, was a significant step in the burgeoning show jumping career of Mary Lisa Leffler of Brookeville, MD. She knocked out her rivals with a one-two punch to place first and second in the Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix. Riding Kartousch, a 12 year-old Dutch Warmblood mare Leffler owns in partnership with 2004 Olympian McLain Ward she placed first, and aboard Graf Rossini S, owned by Bruce Chovnick, LLC she was second. Two days prior to her Grand Prix victory, Leffler also won the $10,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Mini Prix on Kartousch.

One of the most talked about stories of the five weeks occurred during the first week at the Manchester Summer Festival. Juliana Starbuck and RCG Farm's Pamina blazed to victory in the $10,000 Open Mini Prix. Starbuck, of Ridgefield, CT, is no stranger to the winner's circle in Vermont. Last year, teamed with Unique, she captured the Regular Conformation Hunter Championship at the Manchester Summer Festival.

It was what led up to the show that had people all abuzz. Although Starbuck won the blue ribbon in the Vermont Summer Festival's show ring, her greatest victory came this past Spring when she triumphed over a life-threatening case of malaria. As a volunteer with the nonprofit missionary group Engage Now, she traveled to Ethiopia in January to provide humanitarian assistance in small villages. By April, she was so ill with malaria that the doctors had little hope for her recovery. After eight days in intensive care with liver and lung complications, Starbuck slowly regained her strength and began riding, and winning, again.

The 2005 Vermont Summer Festival will take place from July 13 to August 14, 2005. For further information or complete results regarding this year's Vermont Summer Festival, please go to http://www.vt-summerfestival.com/. Complete results of 2004 Vermont Summer Festival Circuit Grand Champions follow this release.