Adelaide Equestrian Festival

The Adelaide Equestrian Festival is an annual three-day event held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It was known as the Australian International Three Day Event up until 2022. It comprises dressage, cross-country and show-jumping and is usually staged in late April. The event is unique in being held in a city-centre, taking place in the Adelaide Park Lands.[1]

Logo 2007 - 2022

History

The Adelaide International Horse Trials was created in 1997 to replace the Gawler Horse Trials that had been staged in Gawler, north of Adelaide, since 1954.[2] In its period as the Gawler Trials, it was a successful competition and was selected to host the Eventing World Championship in 1986. On this occasion the Australian Post Office issued a special set of commemorative postmarked covers featuring a set of four stamps called Horses of Australia.

In 2007 the event was renamed the Australian International Three Day Event and was held at the end of November each year. Since 2011 the Australian International is part of the HSBC FEI Classics, an international eventing series of all CCI*****-events around the world.[3]

In 2022 the event was renamed the Adelaide Equestrian Festival and held at the end of April each year.

Event

The event, managed by Adelaide Horse Trials Management Inc, is held throughout the East Parklands in separate stages over three days.

The dressage phase is held on Friday on the arena in front of the heritage-listed Victoria Park Grandstand. The cross-country phase is held on Saturday across the parklands and attracts the most spectators. The course starts in the arena in front of the grandstand, crosses Wakefield Road to Ityamai-itpina / King Rodney Park (Park 15) and then crosses Bartels Road into Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14) and then returns to the arena again. The cross-country course has been designed by Michael Etherington-Smith, who has designed courses for the Olympics in 2000 and 2008 and other CCI***** events, and more recently, by Australian Wayne Copping. The water jumps in Rymill Park are regarded as some of the most challenging in international competition. The final show-jumping phase is held on Sunday in the main arena in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16).

The event also incorporates the Australian stages of the biannual Trans Tasman Championship, which has been staged in Adelaide since 1985. A youth Trans Tasman is held in the alternate years.

Winners
Year Rider Horse Notes
1997 New Zealand Nick Larkin (NZL) Red Run as a CCI***
1998 Australia Peter Haynes (AUS) Alcheringa Run as a CCI***
1999 Australia Natalie Blundell (AUS) Billy Bathgate
2000 Australia David Middleton (AUS) Willowbank Jack
2001 New Zealand Matthew Grayling (NZL) Revo
2002 Australia Wendy Schaeffer (AUS) Koyuna Sun Gio
2003 Australia Boyd Martin (AUS) True Blue Toozac Martin now rides for the United States
2004 Australia Shane Rose (AUS) Beauford Miss Dior
2005 Australia Megan Jones (AUS) Kirby Park Irish Jester
2006 Australia Heath Ryan (AUS) Flame
2007 No Event Held Outbreaks of Equine Influenza interrupted all equestrian activities in Australia in 2007
2008 Australia Chris Burton (AUS) Newsprint
2009 Australia Stuart Tinney (AUS) Vettori
2010 Australia Wendy Schaeffer (AUS) Koyuna Sun Dancer
2011 Australia Stuart Tinney (AUS) Panamera
2012 Australia Craig Barrett (AUS) Sandhills Brillaire
2013 Australia Chris Burton (AUS) TS Jamaimo
2014 Australia Jessica Manson (AUS) Legal Star
2015 Australia Shane Rose (AUS) CP Qualified
2016 Australia Hazel Shannon (AUS) Willingapark Clifford
2017 New Zealand Clarke Johnstone (NZL) Balmoral Sensation
2018 Australia Hazel Shannon (AUS) Willingapark Clifford
2019 Australia Hazel Shannon (AUS) Willingapark Clifford First combination to win three times
2020 No event held COVID-19 Pandemic
2021 No event held COVID-19 Pandemic
2022 No event held Event moved to April 2023

See also

The other five-star events are:

References
  1. "Mitsubishi Adelaide International Horse Trials". Eques Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 December 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2006.
  2. "2006 Adelaide International Horse Trials: General Information". Adelaide Horse Trials Management. Retrieved 1 August 2006.
  3. Australia’s First HSBC FEI Classics™ Competition, 16 November 2011
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