Toronto, ON - Canadian show jumping’s only coast-to-coast national series will soon kick-off its eastern conference, as it approaches the final leg of the western conference. The eastern conference opens in Bromont, Quebec, then quickly moves to Collingwood, Ontario for a Kubota Cup Grand Prix on August 19. The western championships will be announced in Richmond B.C. on August 12, just two weeks after the eastern conference commences.

Some of Canada’s biggest names in show jumping are certain to be on hand in both Bromont and Collingwood. Last year’s eastern conference leader and winner of the Kubota Cup National Finals, John Pearce, of Stouffville, Ontario, is having another sensational season with multiple mounts. Pearce was also the leader in the east in 2005.

In the west, five riders are just small increments apart in the standings, vying for the five positions available to travel to the Kubota Cup National Finals in Toronto in November, where they will take on the five top-performers from the eastern conference. Despite a wide gap between the current top-five in the west and the rest of the field, the leaders can take nothing for granted. The points system makes it a wide-open contest. West Vancouver’s Gary Brewster leads on his mount, Hurricane, also holding ninth spot on Vaili and eleventh on Watermark. Any of his mounts are mathematically capable of making a leap into the qualifying group, should they win in Richmond. 37-year-old Brewster was the winner in Edmonton in a lightening-fast jump-off. Winner of the series debut in Brandon, Manitoba, Albert Kley, of Calgary, sits right behind Brewster, on his long-time partner Daiquiri SM. Another Calgarian, 48-year-old Jonathan Asselin, is not only close on Kley’s heels, but, like Brewster, Asselin has more than one horse in the race. He holds third spot on Rayanna Chiara, but is well-back with his new mount Quidam’s Ramiro, with whom he has made only one Kubota Cup start. The leader of the western conference for the last two years, Tamie Phillips, holds down fourth position on Lucas, the same horse with which she was the best in the west in 2005 and 2006. Phillips also sits in fourteenth position with Timebreaker, but is not out of the running. Fifth-placed, Emily George has trained in California, southern Ontario, and with Jonathan Asselin in Calgary, but has gained much of her grand prix experience in the Kubota Cup series. Just 22 years old, George has been named to the Canadian Equestrian Team short list for the first time this year and is excited about the prospect of facing-off with the best in the east again in Toronto’s Kubota Cup National Finals. George has two mounts who are both easily in contention, sitting fifth on Ramila and eighth on Smart Thinking. The remainder of the western field includes plenty who would be new faces on the national stage, as well as veterans Gail Greenough, Frank Selinger and Lisa Carlsen

This year’s Kubota Cup series offers a unique new award, known as the Cavalor MVP Athlete’s Award. A “Most Valuable Player” award is presented by Cavalor Canada to one participant, either human or equine, at each Kubota Cup. The recipient is decided via a vote by the participating riders. 2007 Pan American Games team member, Karen Cudmore, was the MVP in Brandon, Manitoba and Tamie Phillips earned the title in Edmonton.

Following the Kubota Cup Grand Prix in Bromont, Quebec and Collingwood, Ontario, the eastern conference will wind up in Halifax in October. Then 5 riders from each side of the nation will converge on November’s Royal Winter Fair in Toronto to contest the only Canadian show jumping competition that guarantees participation from both east and west, with every entry sharing in the overall purse money, as well as travel subsidies.