Team Murka and World Class Programme U23 British Showjumping Championship 2011
Monday 28 February 2011
Through the increased and generous support of Team Murka, theTeam Murka and World Class Programme U23 British Showjumping Championship Final will carry a total prize fund of £10,000 plus Training Vouchers and a Style Award. There is a greater total prize fund of £1200 in each of the six qualifiers in the series, with the winner of each qualifier receiving £400 in prize money and £200 in value of Training Vouchers. This continued commitment highlights Team Murka’s wish to further their involvement in the future of British showjumping.
The competition is open to riders aged 23 years or under, with a total of twenty-fours riders qualifying for the Championship Final, which takes place at the London International Horse Show, Olympia in December 2011. The top seventeen horse and rider combinations from six qualifying competitions will come forward to the final, based on league points accumulated from each combination’s best four results. Points and Training Vouchers will only be awarded to riders who are currently eligible for British Team selection.
In addition to those seventeen qualified combinations, the five horse/rider combinations from the 2011 British Young Rider team will automatically qualify. Should one of these horse/rider combinations be placed in the top seventeen combinations in the points league table, the league qualification will be awarded down the line. The final two riders will be “wild card” entries to make up the total twenty-four riders.
In addition to the prize-money and Training Vouchers on offer at the qualifiers and the Championship Final there is a Style Prize, the winner of which will receive a voucher to the value of £1,500 towards the purchase of a saddle, for use in conjunction with the World Class Programme Master Saddler and the Pliance System.
The World Class Programme, a joint title sponsor with Team Murka, is led by Performance Director Will Connell, who says of the series “The generous support of Team Murka enables the Championship Final and the qualifying series to be the valuable and prestigious Young Rider competition that it deserves to be”.
Olga White of Team Murka commented, “Team Murka is once again proud to support and be involved with the future of British showjumping and to provide The London International Horse Show at Olympia with the opportunity to showcase Britain’s very best under-23 showjumping talent”.
Team Murka is a sponsorship vehicle for showjumping and sailing and is committed to pursuing excellence in both sports. They sponsor British show jumper, Peter Charles, his family and his Team; supporting him to build a world class team of horses with a specific focus on the London Olympic Games in 2012.
Team Murka are currently involved in upgrading the main equestrian complex of the Central Russian Army Sporting Club in Moscow, aswell as the organisation and prize money for a series of Summer and Winter showjumping competitions held at the facility. The main objective of these competitions is to raise the level of involvement and the standard of showjumping in Russia, including children, juniors and young riders, amateurs and professionals. Sponsorship also extends to supporting two Russian riders.
The World Class Development Programme is Lottery and Exchequer funded via UK Sport, and seeks to identify and develop talented athletes who have shown the potential to reach the worldstage. The Programme underpins World Class Performance and, together with the Equine Pathway, they comprise the Equestrian World Class Programme, incorporating the three Olympic sports of dressage, eventing, showjumping and the Paralympic sport of para-equestrian dressage.
The Programmes work closely with the three British Equestrian Federation Olympic Member Bodies; British Dressage, British Eventing and British Showjumping, whose own training and competition programmes work hand in hand with the programmes run within World Class.
The first qualifying competition for the 2011 Championship Final took place at Ingliston Country Club near Glasgow in December 2010 and was won by James Smith riding Bally Knock Lad. The current points table can be viewed by at http://www.britishshowjumping.co.uk/rankings/lists/Young-Rider-Points-Table-2010
Further qualifying competitions in the series are:
Arena UK, Saturday, 26th February; The Hand Equestrian Centre, Saturday, 19th March; Solihull Riding Club, 29th September – 2nd October; Aintree International Equestrian Centre; 3rd – 6th November; Addington Manor Equestrian Centre, 16th – 19th November, 2011.
