Friday, August 8, 2003

U.S. Team Wins Gold Medal In Santo Domingo
By Charlene Strickland for DressageDaily.com

Former Canadian St Jacques, Seals US Team Results With Ride

August 8, 2003 - Third to go, on day two of competition, Pierre St. Jacques rode Lucky Tiger to the best score yet. He didn't let his Canadian heritage influence his allegiance to his U.S. teammates.

"It's my first Pan-American Games, my first time representing a country, and my first time representing the United States," he said. A U.S. citizen since 1999, he credited his wife, Pam Goodrich. "I owe everything to my wife," he said. "She has trained so many Grand Prix horses, and is one of the best Grand Prix trainers in the country." He added that she'd urged him to buy "Tiger" after they found him in Denmark.

Tiger, in his fifth time out at Prix St. Georges, was overexcited after his excellent test. He had to be led through the out-gate, with onlookers backing up to give him plenty of space on his exit.

St. Jacques rode under gray skies--Ebeling warmed up and rode in another rainstorm. He said, "That's a mighty rain, even more than at this year's Gladstone!"

Ebeling rode Feliciano to the highest score of any U.S. rider: 70.40. His score was first announced as 70.05, and later adjusted. About his horse, Ebeling said, "In the last three months, he's really advanced. In the beginning of the season, we weren't sure we would try out, but he made a huge leap forward at every show I went to."

That leap launched the U.S. challenge to Canada. Their Jacqueline Brooks ended up their drop score, placing the pressure on Leslie Reid. Reid earned the day's top score of 72.15--not quite enough to best the U.S. riders.