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The following is issued on behalf of the Equestrian Company.
Hong Kongˇ¦s preparations to host the 2008 Olympic equestrian events got a resounding thumbs-up after the first day of the Good Luck Beijing ˇV HKSAR 10th Anniversary Cup in Sha Tin today (August 11).
At a press conference after the first round of competition at the Olympic test event, the deputy CEO of the Equestrian Company Miranda Chiu said everything had gone smoothly.
ˇ§So far all the reactions have been positive,ˇ¨ she said. ˇ§We hope this competition will cultivate more intense interest in equestrian before the Olympics.ˇ¨
Frank Ostholt, a member of Germanyˇ¦s World Championship winning team in 2006 was impressed with the facilities at Sha Tin after completing his dressage test.
ˇ§The facilities are perfect,ˇ¨ he said. ˇ§They (the organisers) are trying to do a good job which is good. There are a few things to improve like the traffic flow to the stables. Little things.ˇ¨
Bruce Davidson Jnr., a member of the USA team and son of a five-time Olympian who is also named Bruce Davidson Jnr., was equally happy following his first competitive ride at the Sha Tin venue.
ˇ§The lighting is perfect and is situated in a good place,ˇ¨ he said. ˇ§I think a few things need to be ironed out like communications, but overall the facilities are way ahead of previous test events.ˇ¨
The International Eventing Competition went ahead on schedule despite the influence of Tropical Storm Pabuk which prompted the Observatory to raise the No 8 typhoon signal a day earlier. The competition for local entries, had to be rescheduled until after the international competition.
However, the weather didnˇ¦t affect the performance of the horses.
ˇ§The rain doesnˇ¦t matter,ˇ¨ said German rider Andreas Ostholt, the younger brother of Frank Ostholt. ˇ§The weather was no problem, no different to Germany.ˇ¨
The rain was something of a relief to the horses who have been acclimatising to the heat and humidity since arriving in Hong Kong.
Bruce Davidson Jnr said the most important thing is to get an idea of what to expect next year and what preparations need to be made for the Olympics when 200 horses will be taking part.
ˇ§This is a test event. We did not come here thinking about winning or losing but to get things ironed out for next year.ˇ¨
Germanyˇ¦s Dirk Schrade, riding Grand Amour, is leading after the first phase of the international eventing competition. The 29-year-old came in with 48.8 penalty points. Another German, Anna Junkmann, is in second place on Cancun with 51.2 penalty points. Caroline Moore of Great Britain is in third place after day one.
In the local competition, Annie Ho, riding Super Bomb, is out in front with 51 penalty points. Mak Kar-yan is in second place followed by Kwan Kwok-ming.
John Chan, Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is providing facilities for the competition, said he was pleased with the response from the participating teams.
ˇ§So far the feedback has been extremely positive,ˇ¨ he said. ˇ§We have stood the test of the weather and the stabling facilities have been very well received. We will review the experiences to see if any improvements need to be made to the physical facilities.ˇ¨
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) joined Acting Chief Executive Henry Tang to watch the first day of the three-day event. They toured the facilities at Sha Tin where Hong Kong will host the equestrian events for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The cross-country phase will take place at The Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian venue at Beas River on Sunday before the teams return to Sha Tin for the jumping competition on Monday.
Agnes Allcock, the Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs, said the government welcomed all suggestions on how to improve the equestrian competition before the 2008 Olympics.
Ends/Saturday, August 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 18:05
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