Richard Spooner Shines in the Grand Prix of Las
Vegas
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Las
Vegas, NV- April 19, 2003 – Richard Spooner of Glendale,
CA riding Robinson, owned by the Half Moon Investment Group, won
the Grand Prix of Las Vegas at the Budweiser
World Cup in an exciting jump-off on Saturday afternoon. The United
States swept the top three in this International competition at
the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas with Beezie Madden of
Cazenovia, NY, coming in second on Judgement, owned by Iron Spring
Farm, and Peter Wylde, who currently resides Maastricht, Holland,
finished third riding Mania Jolly owned by Double H. Farm.
Wylde
was first in the jump-off and went clear in a time of 30.04, putting
the pressure on the rest of the nine riders the jump-off.
“Going
first in the jump-off, I went as fast as I thought I could”,
said Wylde. “I have only had this horse since October and
we have only been in six shows together.”
The
crowd went wild as Spooner made incredibly tight turns to beat
the clock without fault in the fast time of 29.43 seconds. In
addition to the $15,000 prize, Spooner won a lot more horsepower
when he was awarded the use of a 2002 Pontiac Trans Am convertible
for one year, courtesy of Pat Clark Pontiac GMC of Las Vegas.
He also received a pair of Der Dau riding boots.
“I
am happy to win at home in front of a hometown crowd,” said
Spooner. “My horse, Robinson, has single-handedly changed
my life, before him I only won one Grand Prix.”
Some
World Cup riders threw on some jeans and donned a cowboy hat to
compete in a Barrel Racing competition on Saturday. Three-time
World Cup Champion, Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil won the class easily
defeating the likes of three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ludger
Beerbaum of Germany, 2001 World Cup Champion Markus Fuchs of Switzerland,
and US stars Leslie Howard, Norman Dello Joio and McLain Ward.
Show
jumping action continues through Sunday, culminating with the
feature event, the World Cup Final on Sunday. There will be more
spectacular laser light shows and dazzling performances. For tickets
and other information, please visit the website www.worldcuplasvegas.com
or call 702-260-8605.
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