Keean White and Ian Millar to Represent Canada at the 2009 FEI World Cup Final

Ottawa, ON— Keean White of Cambridge, ON, and Ian Millar of Perth, ON, will be Canada’s two representatives at the 2009 FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, NV, from April 15–19, 2009.

White won the Canadian World Cup League with a total of 53 points to secure his invitation while Millar, who finished third in the Canadian League with 49 points, was invited after runner-up Yann Candele declined. White will be making his World Cup Final debut while Millar is already a World Cup record holder, having been the first rider to score back-to-back World Cup Final victories in 1988 and 1989 with the legendary Big Ben.

White’s best finish of the season came in the $100,000 Marquest World Cup Grand Prix in Palgrave, ON, where he finished second for a total of 17 World Cup points riding Celena Z, a nine-year-old Zangersheide mare sired by Cumano and owned by Ashland Group and Angelstone Farms. The pair also finished fourth in the World Cup qualifying event at L’International Bromont in Bromont, QC, for an additional 15 points.

Millar’s top performance was a win in the $100,000 Canada Cup World Cup Grand Prix at the CSI-W Tournament of Champions in Palgrave, ON, in September. Riding his Olympic mount, In Style, a 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Susan Grange and Lothlorien Farm, Millar earned the maximum 20 points.

Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, tied with Millar for third place in the Canadian World Cup League standings with a total of 49 points. The tie was broken in favour of Millar as he had won a World Cup qualifying event while Henselwood’s best placing was a third place finish in the $50,000 Strongid C 2X World Cup Grand Prix in Thermal, CA, this winter.

The Canadian World Cup League closed on March 29, 2009, when the final World Cup qualifying events were held in the U.S. West Coast and East Coast Leagues.

Final Canadian League World Cup Standings

Placing / Rider / Points

1 / Keean White / 53

2 / Yann Candele / 52

3 / Ian Millar / 49

Jill Henselwood / 49

5 / Jenn Serek / 45

6 / Eric Lamaze / 44

7 / Amy Millar / 38

8 / Jonathon Millar / 37

9 / John Pearce / 36

10 / Erynn Ballard / 32