clarinews@clarinet.com (02/04/90)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (UPI) -- Meredith Michaels of Hidden Hills, Calif., gained her first major show jumping win by five one-hundredths of a second in the $25,000 Grand Prix Farms Jump-off Saturday at the 32nd annual Winter Equestrian Festival. A 58-horse field competed at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club for the $1 million festival series. Riding Quick Star, Michaels was one of 13 entries to reach a tie-breaking jump-off by completing the 14-jump, 573-yard, first-round course without penalty. A 20-year old Princeton University sophomore who is among 35 entries qualified for Sunday's $50,000 Oppenheimer & Co. Grandprix, Michaels then turned in a second fault-free ride, covering the seven-jump, 286-yard jump-off course in 34.012 seconds. Two rides after Michaels, Debbie Shaffner of Ambler, Penn. almost knocked Michaels out of the lead. Shaffner rode Volan to a fault-free ride in a time of 34.065 seconds to finish second by five one-hundredths of a second.