Double up at T&M

Jumping, dressage events coming to Las Vegas for first time

McDonald_Debbie

A little history will be made in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center as the International Federation of Equestrian Sports (FEI) will hold the jumping and dressage disciplines of its World Cup Finals at the same venue for the first time ever. The four-day event begins today and runs through Sunday.

In 2000 and 2003, the FEI World Cup Jumping Finals were held in Las Vegas, and thanks to the interest generated along with the many other things the entertainment capital of the world has to offer, the powers that be decided to try to bring both events to the valley.

"It's the first time the World Cup has ever done it in their history," said Pat Christianson, president of Las Vegas Events, producer of the event. "So both from a standpoint of prestige and getting people to come, it's unprecedented."

Christianson said the addition of the dressage has made the event a near sellout.

"We had it, the jumping in 2000 and 2003, and jumping alone did not do that well (attendance-wise) in 2003," he said. "In fact I think we drew about 28,000 and right now we're over 85,000 (ticket sales) with both. There was more demand for the dressage tickets than the jumping. There's a real niche for it. There's more of a demand for it because the dressage hasn't been held here (in the United States) since 1995. The idea of seeing both dressage and jumping at the same time was appealing."

In the jumping discipline, 42 of the best show jumping horses and riders in the world are converging on Las Vegas, including Ludger Beerbaum (Germany), Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil), Akihiro Okabe (Japan) and Richard Spooner (USA).

The long list of jumpers who have qualified for this championship event also includes McLain Ward, Laura Kraut, Kimberly Frey, Anne Kursinski, Schuyler Riler, Lauren Hough, Georgina Bloomberg, Candice King, Nicki Simpson, Joie Gatlin and Gabby Salik from the United States and Eric Lamaze and Jill Henslewood of Canada.

Also slated for the first time ever in Las Vegas, the elegantly powerful dressage horses -- along with equally talented riders including Debbie McDonald (USA) and Isabell Werth (Germany) -- will compete for the world title. Competitors in the dressage event from the United States include the top-ranked McDonald, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, Leslie Morse, Guenter Seidel and Robert Dover.

McDonald said having both competitions at the same place is a huge event.

"For the U.S. to have the World Cup again ... this is big for it (the dressage competition) to come back to the U.S.," she said. "And I think it's just going to be fabulous to be able, as U.S. riders, to ride in front of our home crowd. We never get that opportunity so this going to be really special to us."

McDonald, a Hailey, Idaho resident who became the first American rider to hold the title of Dressage World Cup Champion in 2003, has her sights set high for the World Cup.

"My goal is to finish in the top three," she said.

McDonald, 50, has a connection to Las Vegas as her horse Brentina is owned by Parry and Peggy Thomas, the same family for whom the Thomas & Mack Center was named.

"I've been with the Thomas family for over 30 years so they're basically like an extended family of mine," McDonald said. "Parry Thomas and his partner Jerry Mack, who is no longer alive, actually donated the (land for the) Thomas & Mack Center, so for them and for myself to be riding in the arena, it even has more meaning to it. There's kind of a dual (meaning) going on for us."

McDonald's record with the 14-year-old Brentina, her horse for three years, stands alone as the most successful of any horse-and-rider combination in U.S. dressage history.

The FEI World Cup Jumping Final, started in 1979, is an annual showdown among the world's best jumping horses and riders. Approximately 45 riders qualify from 13 leagues around the world.

In the 26 finals held through last year, riders from the United States emerged with the most number of titles, winning the championship seven times.

This championship marks the sixth time the FEI World Cup Jumping Final will be held in the United States, following finals in Baltimore (1980), Tampa, Fla. (1989), Del Mar, Calif. (1992) and the two Las Vegas events (2000 and 2003).

The FEI World Cup Dressage Final comes to the United States for only the second time ever after being held in 1995 in Los Angeles. The Netherlands and Germany have dominated the competition, winning six titles each. The return of the dressage event to the United States should provide a boost to the sport like the hosting of the jumping final did when it came to Las Vegas.

Christianson explained how the World Cup ended up in Las Vegas.

"It's ironic. When I was working over at the T&M, I flew with the Las Vegas Events group to Geneva (Switzerland) and we made a presentation to the FEI about coming to Las Vegas," he said. "I think that presentation was in 1997. They accepted our bid, and after that first year, we negotiated for '03 and '05 and '07 (for jumping). What we're going to do now is put a package together for the FEI ... hopefully we'll get approval for '07 to combine them again."

He said he is pleased with ticket sales.

"I don't think there's been a World Cup that has had an attendance like this ever," he said. "It will be very close to a sellout. We have about 6,000 tickets left and we're selling about 200 to 300 a day. Plus once they get here, those that haven't bought or don't have tickets for the other (event) are still going to be kind of curious."

A special one-hour broadcast of the 2005 FEI Budweiser World Cup Jumping Final will be televised by NBC at 2 p.m. on May 8.

Individual and all-session ticket packages for the event are available by calling Las Vegas Events at 260-8605, or at the Web site www.worldcuplasvegas.com.