Irish riders top the current Suncast Championship Series standings in Wellington…

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The 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) will add another exciting new prize for show jumpers to this year’s competition thanks to one of their leading sponsors for seven years, Suncast®. The Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series, always an exciting and competitive division throughout the 12-week circuit, will now have a fantastic prize for the leading rider of the series. Suncast® will provide a pre-paid two-year lease on a beautiful new 2015 Range Rover Evoque.

“Suncast and WEF have been working on an upgraded prize for the series winner for some time,” said Suncast® President and CEO Tom Tisbo. “We feel that this prize will create additional excitement and enthusiasm among the participating riders and elevate the prestige of the 1.50m class.”

Equestrian Sport Productions CEO Mark Bellissimo noted, “We are so pleased to be partnering with Suncast® and the Tisbo family to elevate both WEF and the 1.50m series. The added prize for the series allows us to showcase two great partners in Suncast® and Land Rover.”

The 1.50m Class was originally 10 national events with a total prize purse of approximately $250,000. Under Suncast® sponsorship that total purse will, in 2015, be $661,000 and the series now includes 10 FEI classes, allowing riders the opportunity to gain international ranking points.

“By offering the Evoque, we are taking the 1.50m class to another level and creating more interest in the series concept,” Tisbo stated.

Starting this weekend, the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series will be live streamed at www.COTH.com, and starting with WEF 7, the class will be held with a permanent start time of 10:30 am. During WEF 12, the Range Rover Evoque will be on display at the Spectator Entrance of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and will be on course in the International Arena during the $100,000 Suncast® 1.50m Jumper Championship Series Final (Round 2) to be held on Saturday evening, March 28, 2015, which is when the Evoque will be awarded to the series’ leading rider.

Series specifications and rankings can be found in the WEF Horse Show office. The top riders in the series will be recognized on the new Suncast® 1.50m Jumper Championship Series leaderboard by the PBIEC Exhibitor Entrance and will also be included in the WEF Weekly Wire, the printed newsletter available on the show grounds and online at www.PBIEC.com.

Tisbo added, “It is Suncast’s goal to use our sponsorships to help promote our brand. Just as important, however, is to continue to be a factor in growing the sport and supporting the riders. We are proud to continually look for ways to improve our events and be associated in a positive way with WEF and Land Rover.”

Source: Equestrian Sport Productions

The leading riders in the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series through five weeks are as follows:

1 Darragh Kenny (IRL): 182
2 Conor Swail (IRL): 145.5
3 Eric Lamaze (CAN): 144
4 Emanuel Andrade (VEN): 141
5 McLain Ward (USA): 125
6 Laura Kraut (USA): 122
7 Ljubov Kochetova (RUS): 119
8 Harrie Smolders (NED): 115
9 Lauren Tisbo (USA): 110
10 Samuel Parot (CHL): 108