International Representatives, Olympians and Australian Champions - All at Sydney's Weekend of World Cups!

Sydney's Weekend of World Cups, being held at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre from Friday 6 May to Sunday 8 May, is going to be packed full of the best riders and horses in Australia and New Zealand. As of 26 April there are already nearly 600 Eventing and Show Jumping entries(including30 CCI3* WC competitors and 20 SJ WC competitors). Riders are from around Australia (ACT – 12, WA - 7 , SA - 4, VIC - 29, NSW - 433, QLD - 24) and New Zealand.

The Show Jumping program was changed to accommodate the massive entries, now spread across three arenas including the Indoor and the main Olympic Arena. Eventing classes begin on Friday and continue all weekend. The Young Horse Classes for Eventing will be held on Friday afternoon and for Show Jumping will be held on Saturday in the Main Olympic Arena. Cross country begins Saturday morning with the 3* World Cup Class scheduled to run around lunchtime.

The Eventing World Cup line up includes the 2010 winner, Christopher Burton (Wilberforce, NSW) pictured in 2010 (photo: Furdography), back to defend his title on the lovely mare HP Lelanie owned by Jean and Jade Findlay. The 2009 Winner, Olympic Silver Medallist Megan Jones (Stirling, SA) is also returning for another crack at the impressive prize money. Joining these talented athletes is Sydney 2000 Gold medallist Stuart Tinney (Maraylya, NSW), Beijing Silver Medallist Shane Rose (Werombi, NSW), multi-discipline Australian representative Heath Ryan (Heatherbrae, NSW) and NZ Team 2008 World Equestrian Games Bronze Medallist Clarke Johnstone (Hamilton, NZ). Another 18 elite riders join the Eventing World Cup class all eager to prove they can master the three phases of dressage, cross country and show jumping to claim the victory in the 2011 Sydney World Cup Qualifier. Their competition begins with dressage on Friday evening in the Indoor Arena.

The Show Jumping Young Horse classes are being held in the main arena on Saturday. The World Cup line up includes the 2010 winner, Jamie Kermond (Ebenezer, NSW) and the 2009 winner Chris Chugg (Glossodia, NSW) who recently returned from helping Australia achieve the highest placing ever in the World Equestrian Games. Also competing is three time Olympian Vicki Roycroft (Mt White, NSW), the 2010 Australian Junior and Young Rider Champion 17 year old Tom McDermott, 2010 Summer Classic World Cup winner Brook Dobbin (Vic) and the 2011 Sydney Royal World Cup winner Julia Hargreaves (Wilburforce, NSW). Joining these top riders are another 16 elite competitors from across the country. Their warm up classes begin on Saturday and the World Cup class is scheduled to run in the indoor on Sunday at lunchtime straight after the 3* class finishes.

A full list of World Cup competitors in both Eventing and Show Jumping can be found online  SydneyEventing.org