Février 2002 / February 2002

Showtime to bring HH President’s Cup

POUR VOIR LA RETRANSMISSION, CLIQUER ICI : www.presidents-cup.com

Classic to be shown live for eight and a half hours

Showtime, one of the world’s biggest satellite television broadcasters, has secured the rights to broadcast next Thursday’s HH The President’s Cup endurance race from Abu Dhabi. And in a major shot in the arm for the sport as it strives to win Olympic status, Showtime Sport will be showing the 160 kilometer classic live over an extended eight and a half hour slot next Thursday (February 20)

The broadcast, which goes on air at 10am UAE time, will be one of the biggest outside broadcast productions ever in the Emirates, with 11 cameras, four helicopters and a host of technical innovations.

"The President’s Cup is one of the highlights of the equestrian calendar around the world, a classic test of man and horse that is comparable with Britain’s Grand National," said Andrew Bone, public relations manager for Showtime Middle East, whose key markets are Saudi, Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Egypt "We are delighted to be broadcasting this event to our subscribers across the region in 22 countries."

In addition to the live broadcast, a three hour highlights package will be beamed across the region in the weeks after February 20.

“We are delighted to welcome Showtime as broadcasters of The Presidents Cup from Emirates International Endurance Village. The interest of such a media giant is a shot in the arm for Endurance and will only serve to underline the emergence of our sport,” said Ali Jassim, director of Emirates International Endurance Village. “His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan has an innovative approach to modernising the sport. Showtime’s eighth and a half hour broadcast from Abu Dhabi is another blow in winning international acceptance and promoting Endurance.”

Riders from around 25 counties will be starting the gruelling 160 kilometers, with six riders from the United States and a host of European champions going to post. Entries from Bahrain and Qatar will feature, while the UAE’s own endurance stars – headed by World Champion Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Maktoum — are expected to turn out in force.

Al Ain based Ali Khalfan, newly crowned G.C.C. Champion following his stunning success in Bahrain two weeks ago, will head a strong entry from Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Al Wathba Endurance Stables.

Broadcasters have also lined up an elite commentary team, headed by Ian Williams, head of Endurance worldwide for governing body FEI, leading Endurance journalist Gilly Wheeler, Irish Champion Iona Davenport and 1963 Grand National winning jockey Pat Buckley.

"Endurance is the ultimate test of horsemanship, not only the physical but also in terms of strategy and understanding of your horse and his needs," said Buckley, whose success in Liverpool in 1963 propelled him from jockey to celebrity. "I am delighted that Showtime have chosen to show The President’s Cup live from Abu Dhabi, as this will give the sport an opportunity to show itself on the widest possible stage. It is a beautiful sport that deserves more recognition."

The event is being sponsored by Emirates, Damas, Mercedes Benz, Khaleej Times, LG Electronics and Endurance World magazine.

Twelve hour Webcast the longest ever in the Middle East

Next Thursday’s President’s Cup endurance race in Abu Dhabi will be broadcast live of the world wide web in what will be the longest Webcast ever produced in the Middle East. The www.presidents-cup.com site will carry live streaming footage of the race from its 6.30 am start time until late afternoon.

www.presidents-cup.com is being promoted worldwide through an email campaign that will target 100,000 Web users worldwide, a list formulated from surfers of major equestrian related Websites around the globe.

"While this event is being carried on Showtime Sport, which broadcasts throughout the region to 22 countries, The President’s Cup is such an international event that demand already exists for global distribution of pictures," explained Ali Jassim, director of Emirates International Endurance Village. "www.presidents-cup.com exists simply to cater to this demand."

Over a period of months organisers of The Presidents Cup have formulated a 100,000 strong list of equestrian-related Web users. Yesterday saw the beginning of an email campaign to draw attention to the site. In addition, the site is being advertised on high traffic equestrian Websites around the world this week.

"This is a first for the sport and, given the prestige of The President’s Cup, we expect that tens of thousands will enjoy this 160 kilometer race, logging on from all dozens of countries on every continent," stated Jassim.

Riders from around 25 counties will be starting the gruelling 160 kilometers, with six riders from the United States and a host of European champions going to post. Representing the Emirates Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defence Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is expected to be one of the stars of the race, along with Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In order to facilitate Web users to see this spectacle the www.presidents-cup.com site offers a step-by-step guide on downloading the latest Real Media and Windows Media formats, so that users may enjoy the best coverage available. On the day of the race, the site will also offer updates of leaders over this challenging 160-kilometer desert course.

The Presidents Cup is being sponsored by Emirates, Damas, Mercedes Benz, Khaleej Times, LG Electronics and Endurance World magazine.

 

Toulouse Group - Meeting Paris 6th Feb - Motion presented to FEI

Open Forum of the “Toulouse Group”, Paris 6 February 2003

On Thursday 6 February 2003 about 35 endurance people from AUS, BEL, BRA, BRN, DEN, ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, KSA, NZL, POR, SUI and the USA attended the Open Forum of the “Toulouse Group” in Paris. Later on more people came in to listen and when the meeting was closed with a cocktail offered by M. Pasquier Keni, organiser of the CEIO (CEI****) La Baule, FRA, more than 50 endurance enthusiasts were present. To start, we tried to define what the spot means to us, what is our common culture in endurance:

        -          To complete with a healthy horse.
-          Horse and rider against the trail without excessive pit stop derby.
-          Treating our horses as partners and not as disposable commodities.

If these conditions are fulfilled, then of course “to finish first is to win” and on top of that “getting best condition” are the great achievements we all aim at.
We have a deep admiration for riders/ owners which manage their endurance horses in a way to be able to show their stamina and health competitively year after year.
To see the same horses complete successfully over many seasons is in fact the only prove that endurance is really a sport for the welfare of the horses. 

Next, we discussed the points of the original “Toulouse Motion”. Every nation officially representing their NF got one vote. 

1)  Distance of Championships: 

 There was no doubt concerning this point and the following text was voted unanimously by Endurance Intercontinental Group:

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group”:

1.      The Senior Championships must take place during a CEI**** with a distance of 160 kms in only one day.

 2)  Division of the Event/ Course Designer: 

 We agreed that the number of vet gates/ stages should not be determined in a strict way for all CEI*** rides.
On one hand there are a lot of CEI*** rides (160 km/ 1 day) all over the world which work perfectly with 4 vet gates, have a excellent completion rate and functioned like that for many years without any problems.
On the other hand the special demands of a trail and/ or climatic circumstances and/ or local requests/ national traditions can request 5, 6 or – in very exceptional cases - even more gates.

That’s why a competent Course Designer and/ or Technical Delegate who take the time and responsibility to get used to the demands of an event, should fix the number of gates, the length of the loops, how the distances of the loops should follow each other (in a decreasing way) as well as the hold times. He should work according to the local and actual circumstances and always for the welfare of the horses.

Within this discussion we asked ourselves who in the end is responsible for the design of a course: The organiser, the Technical Delegate or the FEI who approves the schedule?

We also agreed that we want the rides to be organised over a demanding terrain and as technically as possible. This will automatically slow down the speed and therefore will be better for the longevity of our horses.
From this discussion resulted point 2 of the motion with an unanimous vote:

Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group”:

2.      We request the FEI Endurance Committee appoints/ endorses a sub-committee to develop recommendations for standards on endurance.
1) Course Design (er)
2) Vet Gates: Stages
3) Hold Times

5-6 members, geographically diverse, recommended by Endurance Intercontinental Group.

 3)  Heart Rate Monitor: 

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” (unanimous vote):

3.      For Championships electronic monitoring of recovery and heart rate and display of the same is permissible at all vet gates and at the final control. 

4)  Rules and Regulations: 

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” (unanimous vote):

4.      Before the FEI Endurance Committee reports proposed rule changes and/ or amendments of the rules to the FEI Bureau, they must seek 6 months of comment from the NF’s. Rule changes can only be effective on 1 January of the year after the General Assembly has approved them.

 5)  Schedules of Championships: 

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” (unanimous vote):

5.      Final Schedules of Championships including the layout of the course, must be forwarded to the NF’s 4 months at the latest before the Championship.

 After we presented the motion to the Open FEI Forum on Friday, we agreed that 3 months could be enough.

 6)  Nominated Entries: 

 This point has been approved as a rule change by the FEI Bureau at its meeting in Moscow 5 – 6 November 2002 and has come into force on the 1^st January 2003.

 7)  Calendar: 

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” (unanimous vote):

6.    The policy contained in Mr. M. Stone’s letter to the NF’s of Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal and Switzerland (8 May 2002) of 8 weeks or more notice of an FEI ride before the ride date, be enacted as an endurance regulation.

 8)  Qualifications:

 Most of us would have liked to see imposed a graded qualification system with a lot of emphasis put on the rider’s experience. But in listening to what every nation has to deal with, we realised that there was some need to agree on compromises:

 -          Most of the present nations demand a national qualification system from horses & riders with i.e. a series of graded set speed and other rides before they are allowed to be nominated for any CEI event. These national qualifications normally include all CEI* distances. “Endurance” for them starts at a CEI** level.

 -          For small countries where nearly all of the riders own only one horse and all the qualifications are therefore ridden as a combination, a very demanding qualification system on CEI*** level would endanger the horses to be overridden.

 -          For huge countries the local distances between one CEI ride and the other could make it impossible for riders/ horses to qualify over a very demanding qualification system on CEI*** level.

 Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” (unanimous vote):

7.    To be nominated for a Championship/ any CEI**** ride, the following qualification is required:

a)     Horse and rider as a combination have to have completed a CEI ride over the same distance as the Championship/ CEI**** ride within the current or preceding year of the event.

or

b)     The horse has to have completed a CEI ride over the same distance as the Championship/ CEI**** ride within the current or preceding year of the event and the rider has to have completed 3 endurance rides (at least one of them a CEI ride) over the same distance as the Championship/ CEI**** ride within the current or preceding 3 years before the event.

There are no exceptions.

 The Motion of “Endurance Intercontinental Group” has been approved and signed by  the representatives of the following NF’s: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United States of America

 The motion has been presented to the FEI Open Forum on Friday 7^th February, Paris. The Endurance Committee held its meeting on Monday, 10^th February, and we hope that taken decisions will be communicated very soon.

The FEI General Assembly will be held in Bahrain, April 2003. It will be up to the National Federations to put some emphasis on the points of the motion during this meeting.

 9)  Further discussions:

 Further discussions included

-          protection of the horse (i.e. Australian Log Book System)

-          sanction after elimination for metabolic reasons

-          official creation of a club with a seat in the FEI

Unfortunately their was no time left to discuss these points seriously but we will try to talk further about these matters within the newsletter.