AS revealed last week by The Irish Field, just one round of the Jumping in the City series will take place this summer. The capital will host the event on Friday, August 5th in Shelbourne Park, sponsored by The Underwriting Exchange.

Horse Sport Ireland confirmed that the series, which won the “Best Innovation in Sport” at the 2015 Sport Industry Awards will this year run for one night only.

The event will incorporate The Westwood/Ifor Williams Amateur class, The Underwriting Exchange Grand Prix and the Devenish Puissance.

The JITC event will coincide with the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games and will be an opportunity to celebrate the Irish equestrian athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Irish eventing team will commence competition at the Games the following day, August 6th, followed by dressage, show jumping and the paralympics which begin on September 11th.

Horse Sport Ireland chairman Prof Pat Wall said: “All three events went very well last year but due to Dublin Horse Show having to move its dates this year because of the Olympics, the equestrian calendar has compacted and the calendar is very full in June so we have decided to have one big JITC jamboree to herald the start of our Olympic adventure. Next year we will revisit the multiple venue format.”

Stephen O’Connor of The Underwriting Exchange, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Jumping in the City initiative again this year. From a commercial perspective, the agri-food/equestrian sector is a developing sector for us in view of the changing market conditions and some carriers/insurers exiting the market. As such we are delighted to put our support behind the initiative. Hopefully it will be a spectacular night for the sport and will create some commercial opportunities for us in the long run.” he said.

Showjumping Ireland chairman Ray Buchanan said: “Jumping In The City was a huge success last year and we look forward to working with Horse Sport Ireland, The Irish Greyhound Board and the sponsors for this exciting event in 2016.”

Colin Walsh, director of commercial operations with The Irish Greyhound Board, said: “We are delighted to be working with Horse Sport Ireland again for 2016. Jumping in the City is a special event and warranted winning the Best Innovation in Sport award last year.

We believe the August 5th event in Shelbourne Park will be spectacular this year.”