The Ninth Annual Challenge of the Americas announces a unique new dressage and figure skating performance to the Challenge lineup. Held in Wellington, FL, on Saturday, March 13, 2010, the evening will get under way at 5:30 p.m. with musical grand prix team quadrilles, four-bar jumping and a figure skating dressage exhibition. The event is presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) and will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).

The performance, sponsored by Platinum Seamless, will feature a combination of dressage and figure skating unlike anything seen before. Four figure skaters will perform their graceful moves on ice set on the Polo Club’s main field, with horses and riders performing around them. Featured riders will include Mary Ann Grant and Dr. Michael Kohl on their horses, along with figure skaters Julie Mulvey, Curtis Chornopysky, Jenna Dviervamowsky, and Vinny Dispenda from "Incredible ICE" in Coral Springs, Fla. The display will feature two four-minute numbers, including a tango and a Latin number performed to Enrique Iglesias. The horses and skaters will dance to the beats of the music in what skating director Nancy Mariano calls, "an absolutely beautiful and elegant dressage and figure skating spectacular."

"This is a very important evening to support because it helps raise money for breast cancer," Mariano stated. "It is very posh and it is an absolutely gorgeous event that has all the bells and whistles. The animals are stunning, it is for the who’s who of the area, and I am just thrilled to be part of it."

One of the dressage riders, Mary Ann Grant, will be competing in the Challenge for the first time this year, but has been involved with the event since its beginning in 2002. She is also a member of the Purina Mills USA quadrille team and will be riding in the Challenge aboard a beautiful gray stallion named Tamaro. Grant is a Lymphoma survivor and views raising money to help find a cure for breast cancer as a very important cause. She looks forward to performing under the lights at IPC with Tamaro, who is a 15-year-old Spanish-bred stallion owned by Linda Cramer of Chelsea, Mich. Cramer has owned Tamaro for five years and described the horse as a very special teacher. "He has taught me a lot," she said with a smile. "He has not done the Challenge before, but he loves to show, and I think that he will have a lot of fun