LANDING a major coup for Irish eventing, it was announced yesterday that Millstreet has been awarded the penultimate leg of the prestigious Event Rider Masters series. One of only six rounds in the series, which remains the most valuable in the sport, the showcase class (CCI4*S) will be staged as part of the full international at Millstreet during the last weekend in August.
“We are both delighted and honoured to have been chosen,” commented Thomas Duggan. “Not just for ourselves as a family, but especially for our loyal team of supporters and volunteers without which we could not run.”
As the first leg ever to be staged Ireland, this is a significant feather in the cap of the Millstreet team, who since embarking down the eventing route just five years ago, have staged European championships at pony, junior and young rider level, and last summer also hosted Ireland’s leg of the FEI Nations Cup series.
The wonderful facilities on site, and the impressive setting are completely in keeping with the high-profile ethos of the series, making it an obvious hosting contender.
“We have been in regular contact with the ERM organisers over the past few years,” explained Duggan. “They then approached us midway through the summer, and following that call a contingent made a recce to our international event in August.”
Liking what they saw, and in line with their international expansion programme, the venue was to prove ideal.
FIRST CLASS FACILITIES
Speaking to The Irish Field, ERM’s sports director Martyn Johnson commented: “Thomas (Duggan) has always been keen to be involved, and is the sort of organiser we like to work with. He is both pro-active and progressive, and the feedback from the riders confirmed that. The facilities at Millstreet are first class, and I’m looking forward to it immensely.”
The updated list of fixtures surprisingly now features only one British venue at Chatsworth, in comparison to three staged last year. The omission of Barbury Castle and Blair has led to much comment on social media, but as Johnson explained: “That there is only one leg in Great Britain is purposeful. We have to make the series more international – and to make it truly global in order to attract riders, sponsors and television distribution.”
The Event Rider Masters series remains the most valuable series in the sport. Now in its fourth year, it is unique in its format and is confined to the top 30 selected riders, ranked on the FEI standings at the time of each leg. Every minute of competition is live-streamed, and for added tension, both the show jumping (run as the second phase) and the cross-country run in reverse order.
In addition, it provides the world’s most successful riders with an international stage on which to compete for an unprecedented total prize money fund of £350,000.
The prize pot for the British leg is £50,000 while each European leg offers €57,000. The highly-coveted ERM series championship title is also up for grabs as is an additional £50,000 series prize fund shared by the top three riders at the end of the season.
Each providing spectacular settings, the complete list of ERM venues for 2019 are located in Belgium, England, France, Germany and Ireland.
The broadened geographical scope of year’s competition will add an extra dimension to the series. The continentally-based riders could now emerge as favourites, but will have strong opposition from reigning ERM Champion Chris Burton, as well as fellow antipodeans Tim and Jonelle Price, last year’s runner-up Laura Collett and previous winners Oliver Townend (2016) and Gemma Tattersall (2017).
As always, each leg will be broadcast live via social channels and on www.eventridersmasters.tv, with eight highlights shows, including a series preview and season review show available in 101 countries.