For Immediate Release

Jennifer Ward for Starting Gate Communications

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Tracy Magness Masters Mini Prix at 2005 Vermont Summer Festival

East Dorset, VT — August 5, 2005 –It just may prove to be Tracy Magness’ week at the Vermont Summer Festival running July 13 to August 14 in East Dorset, VT.

Magness of Baltimore, MD, won Wednesday’s $2,500 Open Jumper competition and returned to the Grand Prix ring on Friday to capture the $10,000 Mini Prix during Week Four of the five-week competition. Both victories came riding Lebora, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Concorde that Magness purchased from Axel Verlooy in Belgium 18 months ago.

A total of 31 horses attempted the $10,000 Mini Prix test set by Canadian course designer Michel Vaillancourt. With eight of those entries posting a clear round, time became the deciding factor in the jump-off. While Magness doesn’t consider herself to be a fast rider, she was able to post the quickest clear round, stopping the clock at 36.19 seconds.

“I thought it was a good course, there were rails down everywhere instead of there being just one specific part that was hard for everybody,” noted Magness, 33. “Lebora is probably the best horse I have ever had, and if she has a fence down, it is most likely my fault. My main problem with Lebora is going too slow, so even in the first round I had to concentrate on having enough pace to make the time allowed. In the jump-off, I tried to have a quick pace and even though I wasn’t burning fast, she turns really well so that helps to make up time.”

Magness’ time of 36.19 seconds proved to be faster than second-placed finisher Sheila Burke of Elmira, NY, who clocked in at 37.74 seconds riding Quincy B and also placed fifth with her veteran partner, Jamison. Ian Silitch, who is making his first appearance at the Vermont Summer Festival after a four-year absence, placed third riding Escapade while Bill Lowry and Polygraaf took fourth.

Magness couldn’t have been happier with her win, or with her horse’s performance.

“I think she goes like a hunter, very slow, and she jumps in a very classic style, which is a little hard for me to get used to because most of my horses are hot little things whereas she is actually normal,” said Magness of her mare, who had some time off over the winter due to an injury. Since returning to Grand Prix competition in March, Lebora placed second in the $25,000 Grand Prix in Upperville, VA, and, at her last competition before coming to Vermont, was third in the $50,000 Grand Prix in Culpeper, VA. In the $30,000 Mt. Equinox Grand Prix held during Week Three of the Vermont Summer Festival, Magness and Lebora had one rail down to incur four faults, a result that placed them 12th overall.

The pair will set their sights on Sunday’s $30,000 Manchester and the Mountains Grand Prix. The winner of last year’s $35,000 Mt. Equinox Grand Prix, Magness is no stranger to the winner’s circle in Vermont. In fact, she ranks her Grand Prix victory here last year as the most exciting of her four career Grand Prix victories, which have also included wins in Culpeper, VA, Atlanta, GA, and the Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC.

“I think last year was the most exciting win,” admitted Magness. “I was riding my sister’s horse and I was actually going to scratch from the class because I thought the fences might have been too big for him. To go ahead and win was really unexpected, and really exciting!”

As for her chances in the $30,000 Manchester and the Mountains Grand Prix, Magness says, “Lebora has been pretty consistent the last little while, so we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”

If Magness and Lebora were to win Sunday’s Grand Prix, it would be a true family celebration. Her older sister, Wendy Libert, is also competing at the Vermont Summer Festival in the Adult Jumper division, while her niece is showing in the equitation divisions and even won a reserve championship title during Week Three. Magness’ parents are also here, cheering on their daughters and granddaughter. They own the horses, as well as Lake View Farm in Hughesville, MD, where Magness is based. The only person missing is Magness’ husband of two years, Patrick, whose landscaping business prevents him from being able to attend all of the horse shows in the summer time.

The 2005 Vermont Summer Festival features five weeks of exciting equestrian competition running July 13 to August 14 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT and is New England’s largest ‘AA’ rated hunter-jumper horse show. As is the tradition at the Vermont Summer Festival, each of the first four weeks of competition features a $30,000 Grand Prix and a $10,000 Mini Prix. New for 2005 is the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix to conclude the five-week Vermont Summer Festival on Sunday, August 14.

For more information on the Vermont Summer Festival, please call (802) 496-9667 or (802) 362-9023 or email.

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