Blenheim will be 2012 qualifier for international eventers

Eventers from across the world are invited to Oxfordshire later this year, to try to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials (8-11 September) will host the London 2012 team Eventing qualifier for Africa, Middle East, South East Asia and Oceania (FEI Olympic Groups F and G).

The venue is also synonymous with Olympic qualification. In 2003, Blenheim hosted the Asia-Pacific Championships as a qualifier for the 2004 Athens Olympics and a second Olympic qualifier in 2007 for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Riders from Australia, Japan and South Africa will be going all out at Blenheim to clinch Olympic qualification.

The team competition will run as part of the CCI 3* class, with just one nation from Groups F and G earning a qualifying spot for London 2012.

“We expect the venue to be packed to the rafters with fans eager to see Olympic hopefuls perform so close to London 2012,” explained event director Mandy Hervieu.

“The Olympic qualifier will run within our existing CCI 3* class, taking in the cross country course designed by Eric Winter and built by David Evans’ team who were responsible for the Beijing Olympic course in 2008.”

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