Burbank, California – Steffen Peters, Courtney King and Leslie Morse will be joining Catherine Haddad in Las Vegas as members of the U.S. Dressage Team for this year’s Rolex Dressage World Cup. The three were the top finishers in the U.S. League Finals for the Dressage World Cup, held during the Festival of the Horse.

The deciding competition was Sunday’s $1,000 Grand Prix Freestyle for the U.S. Freestyle Championships. Peters and the 17-year-old Westfalen gelding Floriano (by Floristan 1) and owned by Laurelyn Browning took first place with a score of 78.70 percent. King and Christine McCarthy’s Idocus, the 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion by Equador, finished second with a score of 75.50 percent. Rounding out third was Leslie Morse and Tip Top 962, a 13-year-old Swedish stallion by Master 850 and owned by Morse.

PhelpsPhotos: Steffen Peters and Floriano at Aachen 2005

Team coach Klaus Balkenhol expressed pleasure with the team he’ll now be taking to Vegas. Commenting on the two older, more experienced horses he noted that many good horses in their later teens have won Olympic competitions. “These horses are rock solid and healthy and will put in a good performance,” he said.

Balkenhol, who on Saturday expressed a bit of concern regarding the variances in judges’s scores, seemed much happier after Sunday’s competition. “It was shown today that good performances get good scores. It’s the rider’s job to give the judges a chance to give them good scores. It’s always the case in competition that some riders don’t get the scores they hoped for and go home disappointed and other riders get what had hoped. These are experienced riders and horses and we can feel confident when we show up in Las Vegas.”

Lynndee Kemmet Photo: Klaus Balkenhol, Leslie Morse, Courtney King, Steffen Peters

Canadian “O” judge Cara Whitham was also full of compliments for the riders. “We were much happier today than we were yesterday. I think the riders gave us a super show,” she said. “Sometimes things didn’t go as riders planned but that’s the nature of the sport.” Then addressing the top finishers individually, Whitham said, “Steffen, hats off to you. It’s an absolute pleasure to watch you. And Courtney, you did a super, super job, really great today. You’re a lovely combination. And Leslie, you’re a dynamic combination and I think you’re going to have a great time at the World Cup. Good luck to all three of you.”