Hillary Dobbs Clears Her First Hurdle towards Securing Slot at the World Equestrian Games

Harvard Senior Joins U.S. Nation’s Cup Teams in Europe to Determine Final 5-Member Squad

WELLINGTON, Fla. — March 9, 2010 — Hillary Dobbs of Wantage, NJ and Palm Beach, FL, who celebrated her 22nd birthday today, achieved her first goal toward securing a place on the U.S. show jumping team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., this fall.  After the final Grand Prix selection trial at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida on Sunday, Dobbs finished sixth on the ranking list.
The Harvard senior and daughter of former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs will now represent the U.S. as a member of one of the three American teams that are going to Europe for Nations’ Cup competitions. How the candidates perform oversees will determine which of them will be on the five-member squad for the prestigious WEG in Lexington, Ky., this fall.

A total of 15 horse/rider combinations are being named to the long list from which the Cup teams will be assembled. Dobbs, who led the standings with her mount Quincy B after the second trial, had two errors in the third trial that dropped her down the list by adding 8 penalties to her score. She came back in the fourth trial with only two time penalties and was on her way to a clean round in Sunday’s final Grand Prix trial, when her jumper knocked rails at the last two fences for another 8 penalties.

After leaving the arena, Dobbs rushed to catch a plane to head back to Harvard University, where she is a senior, to study for a history exam. Her trainers, Missy Clark and John Brennan of North Run in Vermont, will be filling in for her at post-competition team meetings.

Following the completion of the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team in Wellington, FL, the United States Equestrian Federation’s Ad Hoc Committee on Selection has approved naming the following 15 horse/rider combinations to the Show Jumping Long List for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY September 25-October 10, 2010.

Ranking of Top 15 horse/rider combinations:

1. McLain Ward/Sapphire (Brewster, NY)

2. Laura Kraut/Cedric (Wellington, FL)

3. Lauren Hough/Quick Study (Wellington, FL)

4. Nicole Shahinian-Simpson/Tristan (Thousand Oaks, CA)

5. Richard Spooner/Cristallo (Agua Dulce, CA)

6T. Mario Deslauriers/Urico (New York, NY)

6T. Beezie Madden/Danny Boy (Cazenovia, NY)

8. McLain Ward/Rothchild (Brewster, NY)

9. Hillary Dobbs/Quincy B (Sussex, NJ)

10. Beezie Madden/ Mademoiselle (Cazenovia, NY)

11. Candice King/Skara Glen’s Davos (Wellington, FL)

12. Rich Fellers/Flexible (Wilsonville, OR)

13. Todd Minikus/Pavarotti (Loxahatchee, FL)

14. Cara Raether/Ublesco (North Palm Beach, FL)

15. Bob Kraut/Graf Lando (Oconomowoc, WI)

Biography information, complete coverage and standings from the USEF Selection Trials are all available here: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/alljumping/sjSelectionTrials.aspx.

For further information, receive photos or set up an interview with Hillary Dobbs, please call Sydney Masters at (917) 584-8385 or email oncoursepr@yahoo.com.

Tags: equestrian community, equestrian competitions, equestrian disciplines, FEI, Hillary Dobbs, hunter/jumper, Nations Cup, Show Jumping, USEF, World Equestrian Games

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