Express Eventing - Icon Signs Up
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Eventing legend Mark Todd has signed up for the Express Eventing International Cup, it was revealed today.
The New Zealander, who won individual gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and came out of retirement to ride in this summer?s Olympics in Hong Kong, will join the Who?s Who from the equestrian world for what has been billed as the Twenty20 of eventing.
Todd will join the likes of British Olympians William Fox-Pitt and Mary King, Australian rivals Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks, and Kiwi team mate Andrew Nicholson in the line up for the glamorous new form of the sport.
Brit Oliver Townend and young Chinese rider Alex Hua Tain, who was educated at Eton, will compete against the couple who trained him, The Fredericks, at the inaugural Express Eventing International Cup at the Millennium Stadium on November 30.
British riders Lucy Wiegersma, French rider Rudolphe Scherer, Italian Vittoria Panizzon, Kiwi Caroline Powell, Belgian Olympian Karin Donckers, German Dirk Schrade and American Philip Dutton are also part of the star-studded line up.
Express Eventing, in association with British Eventing, will showcase the skill and excitement of three day eventing condensed into just half a day, inside an enclosed sporting arena.
This new competition is designed to broaden the appeal of the sport, while providing a showcase for eventing?s top riders. For the very first time, spectators will be able to watch all three disciplines from one seat, and follow the progress of every horse and rider at each stage.
Stuart Buntine, director of Tricorn Events, the organising company and former international rider, said: ?We are delighted to have a name such as Mark Todd join the Express Eventing line up. Mark is an equestrian icon and it certainly spices up the competition. The 16 riders who have signed up so far are some of the best riders in the world. It is going to be quite a spectacle to have them all competing together in this challenging new form of the sport.?
Riders will be competing for an unprecedented a £100,000 first prize, part of a £250,000 prize pot.
