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Step by Step Foundation/Liliane Stransky Team Wins Inaugural FTI Great Charity Challenge

More Than $560,000 Raised for 24 Palm Beach County Charities

March 22, 2010

Wellington, FL --- The inaugural FTI Great Charity Challenge galloped out of the gates raising over $560,000 for 24 charities. The sheer emotion of sponsors, donors, charities, and riders who competed touched everyone and gave a new definition to team effort. The precedent setting event in terms of money raised and scope of charities served featured 24 teams in a show jumping pro/am relay where Olympic and world-class athletes teamed with amateur riders over a challenging course in the International Arena. Each team was generously sponsored by a donor, and was randomly assigned one of the 24 charities. The teams rode their hearts out to win prize money for each cause.

One-hundred percent of the money raised will be distributed to 24 Palm Beach County Charities. The event was held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Saturday, March 20, during the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival.

It was an evening of firsts. Amateur riders had the thrill of a lifetime to compete side by side with Olympic champions in the formidable International Arena. With such a broad base of charities, smaller labor of love charities like Children, Hope, & Horses, which helps abused children, had the opportunity to win $150,000 on the same playing field as established organizations such as the American Red Cross. Children from the YMCA watched their first equestrian event and were able to talk to Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden to learn more about horses and riding. And while it was the first FTI Great Charity Challenge, it will not be the last.

Mark Bellissimo, CEO of Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) and Managing Partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners (WEP), believes that this will be the signature event of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival as well as a defining event for both the WEP partnership and the sport of show jumping's connection with the local community.

Bellissimo had many people to thank; Dennis Shaughnessy of FTI as Title Sponsor, Edward Kochetova for his generous $60,000 donation on the day of the event, the 24 team sponsors, the event sponsors, the professional riders who contributed their time and horses for the event, and finally Olympic gold medalist Eric Lamaze who was instrumental in planting the seed of creating a pro/am event for this year's FTI Winter Equestrian Festival.

In this unique competition, everyone was a winner. While first prize was $150,000, second $100,000, and third $50,000, each of the other charities will receive at least $10,000, which will allow them to continue their worthy efforts.

The winning team rode for team sponsor Liliane Stransky and the charity Step By Step Foundation, which focuses on enhancing the lives of underprivileged children by creating an supporting health, nutrition, water, education and other programs that substantially impact the human rights and development of children.

"Without the initiative from this event, the dream wouldn't come true for us or any charity. The proceeds from this event will allow us to complete a new school in Haiti," said Liliane Stransky of the Step By Step Foundation. "Everyone was a winner tonight."

The winning team professional was Margie Engle of Wellington, FL, and she was joined by amateur rider Jennifer Waxman of Chagrin Falls, OH, and junior rider Christina Kelly of Wellington, FL, and Lexington, KY. The three riders competed over a 24 obstacle continuous course, with each rider completing eight jumps. Any faults were converted with a two second time penalty and added to the final team time. Their cumulative winning time was 111.134 seconds, and they were one of only four teams to go clear with all three riders. They were the ninth team on course.

Olympian Margie Engle, a Miami native and resident of Wellington said, "It was a great cause and I think it was fantastic that ESP put this together. It was fun to ride in a group, especially with kids that I've taught. I was fortunate to have really good riders with me. They made my job easy."

The night started out with an introduction from CNN's Lou Dobbs and featured special video productions to introduce the 24 charities, 24 team sponsors, and 72 riders participating in the event. The stands were full of supporters cheering on their favorite charity.

Following the Step by Step Foundation/Liliane Stransky team in the results was the Boys and Girls Club of Wellington team, sponsored by the Mirabal family. Their professional rider Pablo Barrios anchored a strong result, helped by junior/amateur riders Juan and Luis Larrazabal. They finished in a time 113.425 seconds for second place.

Pablo Barrios, along with Juan and Luis Larrazabal, helped the Boys and Girls Club of Wellington team finish in second place

Third place went to the Wellington Community Foundation team, sponsored by the Harrison family. Their team professional was Rodrigo Pessoa, who rode with Hallie Buttenwieser and Olivia Fry Weeks for a total time of 114.636 seconds for third place.

And in the true spirit of giving, team sponsor Edward Kochetova, whose wife Ljubov Kochetova was a professional riding in the event, provided an additional $60,000 which allowed the team sponsor of the top three charities to direct $25,000, $20,000 and $15,000 respectively to one of other the participating charities. Liliane Stransky directed $25,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Wellington, Gustavo Mirabal directed $20,000 to Hannah's Home of South Florida, and Hunter Harrison directed $15,000 to Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center in Wellington. Barbara Green of Hannah's Home of South Florida, which provides a safe haven for homeless pregnant young women, had tears in her eyes and struggled to find words when surprised by the unexpected check.

Bellissimo and his team at ESP have already started planning the 2nd Annual Great Charity Challenge for the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. He has set a target of $1 million dollars for next year's event and is already soliciting ideas on how to make an even greater impact in the next event. Bellissimo added, "Next year there will be some great new twists that will make the event even more interesting and exciting."

In order to allow for better planning for 2011, ESP will be getting commitments for teams and charities over the next month. Please visit www.equestriansport.com in the upcoming week to view photo galleries and video clips from the inaugural FTI Charity Challenge.

The following 24 charities were paired with the team sponsor and had a world-class show jumper riding as the anchor on the relay team.

Final Results: FTI Great Charity Challenge

Charity/Team Sponsor/Team Riders

1. Step by Step Foundation/Liliane Stransky

Christina Kelly, Jennifer Waxman, Margie Engle

2. Boys and Girls Club (Wellington)/Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal

Juan Larrazabal, Luis Larrazabal, Pablo Barrios

3. Wellington Community Foundation/Hunter and Jeannie Harrison

Hallie Buttenwieser, Olivia Fry Weeks, Rodrigo Pessoa

Panther Ridge Conservation Center/Edward Kochetova

Britney Raflowitz, Tori Corts, Ljubov Kochetov

Amanda J. Buckley Give A Smile to a Child/Sue Grange

Alex Loiselle, Karina Aziz, Yann Candele

YMCA of the Palm Beaches/Tom and Jeannie Tisbo

Donald Little, Lauren Tisbo, Beezie Madden

Families First of Palm Beach County/Susan Goldstein

Danielle Goldstein, Paulena Johnson, McLain Ward

Children, Hope and Horses/Maura Thatcher

Hayley Jayne, Kelsey Thatcher, Maggie Jayne

Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation/Robert and Lisa Lourie

Julia Lourie, Kaitlin Campbell, Shane Sweetnam

MS Cure Fund/Jean and Toni Goutal

Jessica Springsteen, Clementine Goutal, Brianne Goutal

Right to Play/Murray and Teri Kessler

Murray Kessler, Reed Kessler, Katie Prudent

Hannah's Home of South Florida/Andrew and Carlene Ziegler

Caitlin Ziegler, Ashley Fleischhacker, Eric Lamaze

Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options/Dennis and Marsha Dammerman, Bruce Duchossois, Donald Little, Mershad Stables

Gabriela Mershad, Catie Boone, Nicole Shahinian Simpson

Stand Down House/Mark and Katherine Bellissimo

Paige Bellissimo, Nicole Bellissimo, Laura Kraut

JustWorld International/Jessica Pasmore

Catherine Pasmore, Sophie Simpson, Julie Welles

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society/Schuyler Riley, Frederic and Kimberly Boyer, Brett Raflowitz

Roger Pellerano, Lauren Crooks, Schuyler Riley

Caridad Center of Boynton Beach/Georgina Bloomberg

Jacqueline Lubrano, Samantha Ramsey, Georgina Bloomberg

A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue/Caroline Moran

Rachel Udelson, Jessica Leto, Ramiro Quintana

Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center/Roger and Jennifer Smith

Sara Ketcham, Tracey Weinberg, Lauren Hough

Hospice of Palm Beach County/Howard and Gwen Dvorkin, Justin and Lee Kellogg Sadrian, Thomas and Constance D'Ambra, Ahmed Alali

Ahmed Alali, Agatha D'Ambra, Candice King

Humane Equine Aid and Rapid Transport/Eduouard de Rothschild

Eduouard de Rothschild, Luciana Diniz, Cynthia Hankins

Gulf Stream Council Boy Scouts of America/Bob Johnson

Ali Wolff, Paige Johnson, Kent Farrington

American Red Cross - Greater Palm Beach Area Chapter/Kim Johnson

Samantha Senft, Michael Murphy, Ashlee Bond

Equestrian Aid Foundation/Peter Kraft

Peter Kraft, Tracy Howe, Will Simpson

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 13 through April 4. WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. All 12 shows are "AA" rated and Jumper Rated 6, and more than $5.5 million in prize money will be awarded.

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