Wellington, FL – November 27, 2012 – Equestrian Sport Productions is excited to announce that this week’s Holiday and Horses Show will feature many great events for equestrians and the local community at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The Holiday and Horses Show offers great competition, including the $50,000 Holiday and Horses FEI World Cup Qualifier on Saturday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m. A drawing of the charities that have registered to be selected to participate in the fourth annual FTI Consulting Great Charity Challenge presented by Fidelity Investments® (FTI GCC) will take place throughout the evening’s competition. Immediately following the grand prix, everyone is welcome to stay and enjoy WinterFest, a concert featuring Vanilla Ice. General admission for World Cup Qualifier and WinterFest is free!

The Holiday and Horses show will have top classes each day on November 28-December 2 and is rated CSI 2*-W, Jumper 5*, and “AA”. Wednesday’s feature class is the $10,000 Holiday and Horses Open Stakes, while on Thursday riders will compete in the $33,000 Holiday and Horses Opener Grand Prix presented by Horse Gym USA. The $33,000 G&C Farm 1.45m class is featured on Friday, and everyone will gather for the biggest class of the week, the $50,000 Holiday and Horses Grand Prix, on Saturday. Hunters will be featured on Sunday in the International Arena with the $20,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby. A full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes will be offered this week.

Last year’s $50,000 Holiday and Horses FEI World Cup Qualifier winners, Margie Engle and Indigo. Photo © ManciniPhotos.

Charities from all over Palm Beach County have applied to be a part of the fourth annual FTI GCC, where 32 charities will be paired with a team of riders to compete for donations on January 26, 2013. In its first three years, the event raised over $2.7 million for over 50 Palm Beach County charities. The goal this year is to raise over $1 million with 100% of all proceeds being donated to 32 local charities.  

All charity representatives must check-in between 4:30 and 5 p.m. at the Special Events Pavilion. The first drawing will take place at 5:15 p.m.

Charities will be drawn randomly during three presentations on the evening of Saturday December 1, and 25% of the selected charities are guaranteed to be Wellington-based this year. Two wild card spots will be left open. The first wild card spot will be drawn at the $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix at The Mar-a-Lago Club on January 6 and the second on the night of the FTI GCC. For more information on the FTI GCC, please visit www.ftigreatcharitychallenge.com or “like” their Facebook page.

The WinterFest concert featuring Vanilla Ice will take place in the International Arena immediately following the conclusion of the World Cup Grand Prix. Everyone is invited to attend. The evening will also feature other special performances, vendors of PBIEC and local Wellington businesses, as well as a special Food and Wine Festival for $15 per person or $25 per couple.

The Holiday and Horses Show is the opening event of the Holiday Horse Show Series, which includes:
ESP Year End Awards Show – December 8-9, 2012 – “C” Rated and Jumper 4*
$10,000 Open Stake, Saturday, December 8
ESP Year End Awards Banquet on Saturday, December 8, at 6 p.m.
$25,000 Year End Awards Grand Prix, Sunday, December 9, at 2 p.m.

Holiday I Show – December 14-16, 2012 – “A” Rated and Jumper 4*
$10,000 Open Stake, Friday, December 14, at 2 p.m.
$25,000 Holiday I Grand Prix, Sunday, December 16, at 2 p.m.

Holiday II Show – December 20-22, 2012 – “A” Rated and Jumper 4*
$10,000 Open Stake, Thursday, December 20, at 2 p.m.
$25,000 Holiday II Grand Prix, Saturday, December 22, at 2 p.m.

Holiday III Show – December 23, 2012 – “B” Rated and Jumper 2*

ESP New Year’s Show – December 26-30, 2012 – “AA” Rated and Jumper 4*
$10,000 Open Stake, Thursday, December 27, at 2 p.m.
$25,000 Citibank New Year’s Grand Prix, Sunday, December 30, at 2 p.m.

A-T Children’s Benefit Show – January 2-6, 2013 – “AA” Rated and Jumper 4* (Pending CSI 2* approval)
$10,000 Open Stake, Thursday, January 3
*New Date – $25,000 A-T Benefit Grand Prix, Saturday, January 5, at 7 p.m.*

Spy Coast Farm Young Horse Finals – January 5-6, 2013 – at The Stadium at PBIEC

Join us at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center this Saturday night for a fun night of show jumping and music, and see what’s ahead for our holiday season!

For more information on Equestrian Sport Productions, please visit www.equestriansport.com. For inquiries about the FTI GCC, please contact Anne Caroline Valtin at 561-784-1133 or annecaroline@equestriansport.com.

About the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival
The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) has 12 weeks of world class competition running from January 9 through March 31, 2013. The FTI WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. All 12 weeks are “AA” rated and Jumper Rated 6, with approximately $7 million in prize money awarded.

About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 3,800 employees located in 24 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management, strategic communications and restructuring. The company generated $1.56 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2011. More information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of $3.8 trillion, including managed assets of $1.6 trillion, as of October 31, 2012.  Founded in 1946, the firm is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and many other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals and institutions, as well as through 5,000 financial intermediary firms.  For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.