Dressage: Peters, Beverly Hills’ Morse secure berths

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Veteran Olympian Steffen Peters of San Diego and his horse Ravel were crowned USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Champions and are headed to Hong Kong for the Beijing Games.

Peters finished with a score of 79.500% at the dressage trials Sunday in San Juan Capistrano, earning one of four Olympic berths.

Debbie McDonald, a Southland native who lives in Hailey, Idaho, Courtney King-Dye of Connecticut earned the other spots, with Leslie Morse of Beverly Hills named as an alternate.

This will be the third Olympics for Peters, who won the bronze medal in team dressage in 1996, and the second Olympics for McDonald, who won the bronze in 2004.

This will be the last Olympics for McDonald’s veteran mare, Brentina, who is 17. The pair finished second overall by scoring 73.627%.

-- Debbie Goffa

Top photo: Steffen Peters after winning the Grand Prix Championship. Credit: Denis Poroy / Associated Press

At left: Leslie Morse of Beverly Hills during the Grand Prix Championship. Morse was named an alternate to the Olympics. Credit: Denis Poroy / Associated Press