USET Foundation Awards 2009 Whitney Stone Cup to McLain Ward
Posted:
12/04/2009
The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is pleased to announce that the Whitney Stone Cup has been awarded to McLain Ward of Brewster, NY. The Whitney Stone Cup is awarded annually by the USET Foundation Executive Committee to an active competitor who displays consistent excellence in international competition, high standards of sportsmanlike conduct, while also serving as an ambassador for the United States and equestrian sport.
USET Foundation President and CEO, Jane F. Clark, stated, "McLain is not only one of this country's top equestrian athletes, but one of the best international competitors in our sport. His great talent and representation of this country make him a very deserving recipient of the USET Foundation's prestigious Whitney Stone Cup."
McLain Ward has been at the top of the sport for many years and has accumulated two team Olympic gold medals. In 2009, he entered another level of winning with his amazingly consistent mount Sapphire, a 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock.
The pair started out the year with wins in the $150,000 CN CSIO Grand Prix, the $200,000 CN Grand Prix, and $400,000 FTI Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Florida. On other horses, Ward won another four $25,000 grand prix events at WEF.
Ward and Sapphire continued on to the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas and put in five clear rounds to finish second in the championship. When they represented the United States in the Meydan FEI Nations Cup tour, they scored double clear rounds in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and in Aachen, Germany. Sapphire jumped clear in the Grand Prix of Aachen, one of the most prestigious classes in the world.
Sapphire and Ward returned to North America in the fall and took home two more huge wins in the $250,000 FTI Grand Prix at the Hampton Classic Horse Show and the CN $1 Million Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. Ward ranks his win in Calgary as the best individual finish of his career.
All in all, Ward won 23 USEF Computer List classes this year. Sapphire won just under $1 million, and Ward totaled just over $1.4 million in prize money this year
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