Sydney International Three Day Event - Update

Photo Caption - Mike Etherington-Smith returns to the Sydney 2000 Olympic course. Photograph by John Lechner

World renowned cross-country course designer Mike Etherington-Smith (GBR) returned to his Sydney 2000 Olympic course to redesign the 3* track for the 2012 Sydney International Three Day Event, the final selection event for Australian based London Olympic contenders. The Sydney International Eventing Committee were excited to spend an afternoon with Mike discussing his vision for the new course - see video below.

Mike Etherington-Smith, one of the world’s leading cross-country course designers, was the original course designer for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Mike ES was also responsible for the track at 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. He was the Technical Delegate for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and Technical Advisor for the 2006 World Equestrian Games (Germany). He was responsible for the course at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and has designed the four-star track at Kentucky for the past twenty years.

"The Sydney venue is a great legacy for the sport. It has great topography and variety, is convenient and easily managed and provides plenty of opportunities for a course designer." said Mike Etherington-Smith. "Courses at the top end are arguably more sophisticated nowadays as the standard of horse and rider continues to improve.  A good flow and balance to the course is essential, horses and riders should have the opportunity to benefit from the experience, to have a positive experience that enables them to 'grow', to be fair at all times to the horses whilst at the same time giving enough for the riders to have to think about."

Whilst in Sydney Mike also worked with Australian course Designer Ewan Kellett and course builder Brett Ryan on the new CIC 1* and CIC 2* plans, providing a wonderful opportunity for riders of all levels to compete on world class courses. He stressed the importance of the footing to the SIEC team who will be undergoing work on the going in consultation with Wayne Roycroft. The future of the Sydney International course is also being considered, with further changes being discussed for the next few years that will see Sydney continue as one of the premier venues in Australia.

“It is critical that we maintain the Sydney International Equestrian Centre course as one of the best in the world to ensure our riders and horses have the opportunity to compete at a truly international level," said Glenn Wallace President of Sydney International Eventing. 

“Mike brings new ideas to the course, and will not only design the CCI3* course but provide valuable guidance and support for our local course designer Ewan Kellet and builder Brett Ryan in developing lower level courses."

"It is vital we continuously improve the quality of our cross country courses at all levels.  To have someone of Mike’s calibre work with us at Sydney is a great opportunity for the sport in Australia. SIE would like to thank Equestrian Australia, the High Performance Program and National Eventing Director Prue Barrett for their support" concluded Mr Wallace.

The new 3* course will be spectator friendly with a number of new features being built, including an exciting new water complex in a central location. The aim is to have this new complex ready for the Sydney One Day Event in February.

Sydney International Eventing is offering the naming rights to this feature fence as an exciting sponsorship opportunity for a business wishing to be involved in an exhilarating sport where Australia has a strong tradition of Olympic success.  

A first hand view of the new course will be available on the SIE website when the course is completed thanks to new technology partner CrossCountry™ App, an exciting new innovation in course walking using Google satellite map and GPS tracking.

 

2012 Event Information

Including 3*, 2* & 1* Eventing Classes, FEI Greater Sydney World Cup Show Jumping Qualifier, NSW State Equitation Championships, Young Horse Classes, Master Classes

Event Statistics (from 2011)

• Sponsors for 2011 - ASC, NSW Sport & Rec, SIEC, Equestrian Australia, Equestrian NSW, Eventing NSW, NSWIS, Clubs NSW, Telstra, Virgin Australia, Sydney City Toyota, Harbour It, Tarraleah Park, Over the Top Equipment, Racenet Bloodstock, Equitak Excel, Horsezone.com.au, Agnes Banks Equine Clinic, Horseland, IRT, Giddi Up, Motorola, Mandavilla Catering, Mount Benson Vineyard, Prydes EasiFeed, ABS Bloodstock, The Lenton Family, Green Option, Musto, Main Event Photography, You Tarzan, Communica, Horse Deals, The Horse Magazine, Deloitte.
• Number of Volunteers in 2011 - 300
• Number of entries  in 2011- 122 Eventing (including 15 CCI3* competitors & 29 Telstra Young Event Horse Championship competitors) + 600 Show Jumping rounds
• Event Riders from Australia (ACT – 0, WA - 5, SA - 2, VIC - 9, NSW - 92, QLD - 12, TAS - 2),  New Zealand - 2;  Finland - 1, USA - 1, Japan - 1;
• 46 ex-racehorses competed in 2011 - Harbour IT CCI3*- 7, Tarraleah Park CCI2* - 8, Equitek Excel CCI1*- 9, Over the Top Equipment CCN Pre Novice - 10, Telstra Australian Young Event Horse 7 Year Old Championships - 1; 6 Year Old Championships - 8, 5 Year Old Championships - 3 (Total career race winnings of ex-racehorses competing $520,595)

Class	Rider	Horse	Racing History	Prize
Harbour IT CCI 3* - finished 7th	Keira Byrnes	FOX HILL	"Trust No One" 65 10-8-11 $112 265	$112,265
Over The Top CCN PreNovice - finished 13th	Lauren Lim	BURDEKIN LAD	"Burdekin Lad" 1994 41 5-6-5 $80 755	$80,755
Tarraleah Park CCI 2* - finished 8th	Isabel English	CIL DARA GEORGE	"Gait" Aus 2003 7 runs 1-0-0 $66 200	$66,200
Over The Top CCN PreNovice - Eliminated	Clancy Douglass	ASSUME THE CROWN	"Assume the Crown" 49 5-4-5	$52,445
Over The Top CCN PreNovice - finished 3rd	Jessamy Walsh	BETTER ON SUNDAY	"Sunday's Dreams" 32 2-2-6 $36 440	$36,440
6YO Young Event Horse - finished 2nd	Rachel Watts	DUNCAN	"Bureacratic" 11 4-0-1 $36, 100	$36,100
Over The Top CCN PreNovice - finished 20th	Alice Hirst	BANDMAN	"Bandman" 45 2-8-5 $27 455	$27,455
"Equitak" Excel CCI 1* - Withdrawn	Eleanor Osborne	AIM HIGH	"Nicolo Sequalo" 14 2-2-0	$25,600
"Equitak" Excel CCI 1* - finished 9th	Jessica Cocks	REGAL ROYALE	"Esemes" 41  2-6-1 $22055	$22,055
Harbour IT CCI 3* - finished 9th	Shay Smith	HITMONCHAN	"Hitmonchan" 15  2-1-1- $15, 250	$15,250
Harbour IT CCI 3* - DNS	Dominic Ingvall	KITARA DIAMOND EDITION	"Condo" 25 - 3-3-3 $11,860	$11,860
"Equitak" Excel CCI 1* - DNS	Emily Dockray	UNDER CONTRACT	"Panasonic Boy"17 -0-4-0	$8,150
Over The Top CCN PreNovice	Angela Cohen	JAZZANOVA	"Bo Cossack" 3 1-1-0 $7 650	$7,650
Tarraleah Park CCI 2* - DNS	Bella Mowbray	STAR VISION	"Shepherd's Star" 23-1-5-4 $7 200	$7,000
Harbour IT CCI 3* - Eliminated (was 2nd after cc)	Victoria Luxford	PERFECT ENCOUNTER	"Stressed Out" 16 1-1-0 $5280	$5,280
Over The Top CCN PreNovice - finished 13th	Lauren Balcomb	DOUBLE DARE	"King Clip" 16 0-1-1- $3 250	$3,250
"Equitak" Excel CCI 1* - Eliminated	Hayley Frielick	MY HAPPINESS	"Happy Freedom" 7 0-1-0 $1 890	$1,890
"Equitak" Excel CCI 1* - Eliminated	Jeremy Ayton	BIBILAH	"Biblah" 7 0-1-0 $700	$700
Tarraleah Park CCI 2* - finished 6th	Kirby Delamont	BADGERBAY	"Mighty Rein" 9 0-0-0 $250	$250
				$520,595

Eventing Explained

The Olympic sport of Eventing (also known as Horse Trials) is the equestrian triathlon where the three phases of dressage, cross country and show jumping are completed by the same horse/rider combination. This is a true test of fitness and horse management. Eventing is the equestrian discipline at which Australia has excelled with numerous Olympic Medals including gold ten years ago at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It is also one of the few sports where men and women compete on equal terms and the genuine amateur can compete against an Olympic Champion.

Dressage is the first test which comprises a set sequence of compulsory movements in an arena 20m wide and 60m long. At the highest level the test is judged by three international judges who are looking for balance, rhythm, suppleness and most importantly, obedience of the horse and its' harmony with the rider.

Cross Countryconsists of the challenge of more than 35 natural obstacles over approximately 4km that has to be jumped inside an optimum time. This phase is filled with thrills and spills.

Show Jumpingis the final phase of the competition consisting of one round of jumping with a maximum time allowed. The objective is to jump all the fences clear inside the time.

Past Winners of the Sydney International 3DE

• 2011 Winner CCI*** Christine Bates & Adelaide Hill - Originally from Western Australia and now residing in Wilberforce NSW, Christine Bates has been quietly at the top of Eventing for over a decade. Close to Olympic selection in 1996 with Masterprint, she is now back in contention with a new team of horses, winning the Sydney International Three Day Event on the extremely talented Adelaide Hill in a nail bighting finish that had thrills and spills.
• 2010 Winner CCI*** Heath Ryan & Mystery Whisper - From NSW, Heath (who also won the event in 2008 with Mystery Whisper) is a Multi-discipline Australian representative first representing Australia at the World Equestrian Games in Sweden in 1990. Since then he has represented Australia at World Equestrian Games, World Cup and Olympic Games competitions. In 2008 Heath was a member of the Australian Dressage Team for the Beijing Olympic Games. Heath has been the Assistant Coach for the Australian Olympic Eventing team three times, 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics where Australia won Gold, 2000 at the Sydney Olympics where Australia again won Gold and then at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Heath has been the Australian Three Day Event Champion three times and was the 2010 Australian Grand Prix Dressage Champion. Heath is attending the State Dressage Titles in Tamworth the same weekend chasing an Olympic qualifying score in the Dressage Discipline. 
• 2009 Winner CCI***  Wendy Schaeffer & Koyuna Sun Storm  - From South Australia, Wendy was the youngest women to win Equestrian gold at an Olympic Games with team gold at 1996 Atlanta Games. Just nine weeks prior to the 1996 Olympics, she suffered from two broken bones in her leg which were pinned for the competition. With a sense of déjà vu Schaeffer missed out on the Sydney round of 2009 HSBC World Cup with a broken leg. She returned to form with victory at the 2009 Sydney 3DE. Wendy is currently in Europe seeking Olympic qualification on her Show Jumping horse Koyuna Sun Set.

Past Winner of the World Cup Show Jumping Class

• 2011 Show Jumping Winner - Cathy Graham and Da Vinci’s Pridefrom Queensland have  an impressive list of jumping successes. Major wins with Da Vinci's Pride include the Aitken's Cup and the Wentworth Saddles Mini Prix at the Summer Classic in 2009 and a 6th place in the Copabella Grand Prix in 2010. They had great success at the 2011 Sydney Royal before their victory at the 2011 Weekend of World Cups in Sydney. Cathy also holds the women's high jump record.

Quick Link

• Visit the Sydney International Eventing website