On the 21st – 24th March the Davcar Horse Floats 2013 Queensland International 3 Day Event will take place at Morgan Park, Warwick. The committee behind this event are determined to make it a success and have come up with a ‘State of Origin’ competition to be run at 2* level with the aim to encourage some healthy (but fierce) rivalry between the eventers of Queensland and NSW.
We caught up with Chairman of the Queensland 3 Day Event committee, Cameron Osborne, to find out more about this innovative concept and the message he wants to get out to the riders.
How did you become involved in this event?
I have been involved with eventing in a number of ways over the years. My daughter is Eleanor Osborne who events at top level and we have a performance horse enterprise on the Darling Downs in Queensland, but I wasn’t actually involved in any of the administrative areas until fairly recently. When the idea of bringing back three day eventing to Queensland came up it ignited my interest because I thought we (as a State) were lagging behind the high profile events of the other states. I think people see EI (Equine Influenza) as being the catalyst for the dwindling of the sport … lots of equestrian things seemed to drop away after EI.
So I decided to get involved and went on the Queensland Three Day Event committee and over the past three years I seem to have become the chairman.
Take a look at some highlights from last years event in the video below
Whose idea was the ‘State of Origin’ concept for the event?
It was mine. I put it to the committee that when you look at the number of very good eventers we have had in Queensland who have migrated to NSW and if you thought in terms of the famous football State of Origin if we could get those riders back to Queensland (even temporarily) to represent their state we could put together a really good competition and a very competitive event. I think, and am certainly hoping, this idea will help develop elite eventing in Queensland by giving it a boost and it’s a great opportunity to promote something of great interest rather than just putting on an event and hoping riders will come.
Our aim is clear. Over a period of time we want to develop a Queensland international event to the level we are accustomed to seeing in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. I think by doing that we would add to the prestige of eventing in Australia. Apart from the competition for the elite riders and the other social riders we also want to put on an event that spectators and sponsors will be attracted to.
I think it would be fair to say that in the past the organisers of the Queensland event were a bit zealous in setting the courses and I think a lot of the elite NSW riders felt it was too hard and too challenging for the time of year the event was on the calendar and they simply went off the idea of making the trip north. This impression of the event has trickled down to the younger and developing riders and consequently they have decided not to come to Warwick. We want to change that mind set.
A lot has changed at Morgan Park (the venue for the event). We have a new clubhouse, new show jumping area and dressage arenas. The course, designed by Sylvia Roberts, has been re organised, which has produced a much more inviting track. The organising committee are very much aware that we are putting on a competition at the beginning of the season so we don’t wanting to be working at the absolute limit of the classes. The event that naturally flows on from Warwick is Sydney 3DE and we are hoping to provide a competition that is inviting enough for riders to prepare their horses for that event and the rest of the year. It’s not about building a course that is the biggest and toughest in the country – it’s about giving the riders what they need at this time of year.
We are working very hard to get that message across. Those riders who have come here in the last couple of years have been very complimentary about the whole event, which has been really encouraging. I guess what we are trying to suggest to all the riders, but especially the NSW riders, is to ‘Ditch the dogma and come and test the track’. I think they will find it different to how it was in the past.
We are hoping to attract 200+ riders this year and are particularly keen to fill the international classes with the CCI 2* being the ‘State of Origin’. We are looking to NSW Eventing to select a team to represent a team and Shane Rose has said NSW Eventing is supportive of the concept and keen to co-operate.
We want to ignite those state allegiances. There are plenty of New South Welshman in Queensland and plenty of Queenslanders in New South Wales. We want them to come out of the woodwork and support their state.
There's always a good party on cross country night at Warwick
Tell us more about the venue
Morgan Park is a unique and picturesque setting, it is a multi faceted sporting facility set on hundreds of acres. There is a motor racing circuit, carriage driving headquarters and polocrosse grounds. It is spacious and spread out area and winds its way through a rural setting. These days the cross country course has good viewing points and there is a people mover vehicle to take spectators around to different parts of the course. We really want to attract the general population and make it easy for them to be part of the event.
Getting to Morgan Park from Sydney would probably take around 13 hours in a truck but it’s a pretty easy drive on the New England Highway.
The people mover
What will the going be like?
It is going to be good. We are making a big effort to make sure that riders are satisfied with the going. We have an aerator to use on the course and if we need to we can water the course. We will do what ever we have to do to make the course acceptable to all riders.
We are aware of the past perceptions of the going where riders felt it was too hard. We need to change that perception … it’s not like that now.
What about prize-money?
The State of Origin is a $5000 ‘Winner Takes All’ to the winning team. The other attraction of the event is the introduction of the Alltech Advantage series, where our event is the second leg. Alltech are going to double the prize money for the 1* so we are offering $2100 which will become $4200 (for that class). On top of that there is the prize for the overall winner of the Alltech series who will receive an all expenses paid trip to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy next year.
We have about $21,000 in prizes and prize money and depending on how many arms we can twist between now and March we may be able to enhance that.
In the past few days we have been very happy to announce that ‘Over the Top’ yards and equipment have joined us in becoming the naming rights sponsor of the inaugural Eventing ‘State of Origin’ competition. Karl Steininger , proprietor of “Over the Top”, whose generosity is well known in Australian equestrian circles has once again demonstrated his support for Australian eventing and we are delighted.
Karl told us he was delighted to have the opportunity to support both NSW and Queensland riders as they test their skills against each other in what promises to be an exciting and close fought event.
Photos: Thanks to Penny Rose
