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“Skyliner” Junior/Amateur Tournament Offers $140,000 in Prize Money

June 21, 2006

Calgary, AB --- Spruce Meadows President Linda Southern-Heathcott wants to get back to basics. She wants to draw inspiration from Spruce Meadow’s infancy, a time when a tournament, exclusively for junior and amateur riders was a feature of the Tournament Season at the world-renowned Show Jumping venue.

With this in mind, Southern-Heathcott put plans in motion for a brand new tournament, which kicked-off last Thursday. The “Skyliner” hosts young riders from throughout Alberta and across both North and South America. The athletes compete in a World Championship format - without the intimidating prospect of having to compete against the top riders in the sport - but on some of the best courses in the world.

It’s not necessarily a break for the junior and amateur athletes though. With 500 horses entered in the Tournament there's intense pressure on riders to go faster, jump higher and outmaneuver their opponents.

“We didn’t know if there would be an interest in this type of tournament,” says Southern-Heathcott. “We started out thinking that 200 horses would be entered and hoping for 300. But the response was amazing, we have 500 horses entered and I think it could turn in to something really special.

This Friday takes on a Nations’ Cup format where riders will compete on a team but also look for good individual results. Those riders who are here as individuals will still be expected to compete in the first round for consideration going forward to the final day. For the pony competitions up through the 1.30m jumpers the top 4 teams will return to jump the second round of the competition. For the 1.40m competition on Meadows on the Green on Friday night, the top 8 teams will come back for the second round of the Paramount Prix des Nations.

Saturday features several Grand Prix events where again, the riders will be looking for top individual results that will help them qualify for the Final Four within their respective divisions on Sunday.

Riders will accumulate faults from each event they compete in Thursday through Sunday. Following Saturday’s Grand Prix, all the points will be added together to determine which four riders will go forward to the Final Four events on Sunday.

A Final Four event is one of the most exciting in Show Jumping. Four horses and four riders enter the ring at the same time. After completing the course on their own horse, each rider must take a turn riding the other three horses and has only two minutes from the moment they get in the saddle to get used to the mount and start the course. It’s sure to be a spectacular event.

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