2014 Open Champion Andrew Nicholson
The Festival of British Eventing, presented by the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA), which runs from 7-9 August 2015, will boast some exciting extras this year. The event will be live streamed for the first time and will host this year four championship classes, with the addition of The Corinthian Cup, the inaugural championship for amateur riders, sponsored by TopSpec.
The TopSpec Challenge for ‘The Corinthian Cup’, the National Restricted Novice Championship, is the perfect class for those who have jumped around Badminton’s Grassroots Championship and are looking for their next goal. This class will run alongside Festival favourites The British Eventing Open Championship, The Smith & Williamson British Intermediate Championship and The Dodson & Horrell British Novice Championship. These classes will see leading riders, including last year’s Open Champion Andrew Nicholson, as well as William Fox-Pitt, Sir Mark Todd and Oliver Townend pitted against each other in an attempt to lift these prestigious trophies.
Due to requests from riders Course Designer and Joint Chairman of The Festival, Captain Mark Phillips has added a showjumping pre-warm up arena this time. “We try to listen to what the riders want and we have added the pre-warm up arena to maximize preparation space for the Festival Arena” he said.
As ever, The Festival enjoys strong links with sponsors, and this year welcomes three names to its ‘family’ - Dodson & Horrell, sponsor of The British Novice Championship, TopSpec, sponsors of The Corinthian Cup and Hunter Field, as Official Outdoor Footwear for this year’s event.
“We have a wonderful family of sponsors and we are delighted to welcome back BETA, British Eventing, Land Rover, Hamptons International, Smith & Williamson and Equex China, who are all continuing their association with The Festival at Gatcombe Park” said Captain Mark Phillips.
Captain Phillips has devoted plenty of time to making changes to the events renowned cross country courses, and Open competitors will spend more time riding in the park bowl with the track running closer to HRH The Princess Royal’s iconic house.
With all Festival enthusiasts in mind, including those unable to travel to Gloucestershire, the exciting cross country action will be streamed live on the website. Another technological advance is a 3D site plan to help spectators find their way around this buzzing and busy event. “This will give everyone a fantastic insight into where you can find the essentials - such as the Pimms tent” joked Event Director, Tim Henson.
New and familiar favourite arena attractions will also keep audiences entertained. On Sunday the top three finishers in the 2015 Grand National - Many Clouds, Saint Are and Monbeg Dude will be paraded in the main arena. Another ‘first’ for The Festival will be the dare-devil and thrilling stunts of The Kangaroo Kid, aka Matt Coulter, who has entertained millions of fans around the globe with his record-breaking jumps on four wheels.
The new Harringtons Arena, located close to the hub of the event, will host the inaugural Pony Club Mounted Games, a dog agility display and flyball over the weekend. There will also be ‘Have A Go’ dog agility alongside a fun dog show taking place in the Fun Zone. Furthermore the popular Pony Club Team Showjumping competition, sponsored by BETA, returns for another year.
The Festival has always been renowned for its trade stand shopping and this year is no exception.
The village is packed full and will see over 120 exhibitors selling products as diverse as jewellery, fashion, garden furniture to everything for the horse and rider and their dogs! Last year’s Festival Food Walk was a great success and this year sees its return, with hungry Festival goers able to purchase food and drink ranging from speciality teas to truckles of cheese.
In less than three weeks' time spectators will be enjoying some thrilling sporting action and we'll be bringing you all the action and behind the scenes updates from Gatcombe Park
