Woodside, Calif., April 20, 2011 – The third annual Preliminary Challenge will be the competitive highlight of the Event At Woodside on May 27-29. The popular competition, which climaxes as the sun sets over the San Francisco Bay on Saturday evening, will offer $15,000 in prize money and $15,000 in prizes in each of the two divisions.
More than three dozen horses are expected to compete in the Woodside Preliminary Challenge—presented by Point Two Air Jackets, Professional’s Choice and Equine Insurance of California—at the Horse Park of Woodside, on Sand Hill Road, just off I-280, 30 minutes south of San Francisco.
The Woodside Preliminary Challenge will get underway on Friday with dressage, evaluated by a panel of two judges. The exciting cross-country phase will take place on Saturday morning.
And then the winners will be decided on Saturday evening over a special show jumping course set in the Bay Arena, with its panoramic view of the southern San Francisco Bay. The top 10 horses in each of the two Preliminary Challenge divisions will begin show jumping at 6:20 p.m., with awards to follow immediately afterward.
Since Saturday afternoon will feature the advanced and intermediate divisions taking their turns over Derek di Grazia’s panoramic cross-country course, spectators can spend the entire day watching he cross-country action for $10 per person, which includes parking and a program.
Fans, friends and family can watch the final phase of the Woodside Preliminary Challenge from a ringside tent while eating a locally catered dinner, or they can bring their own chairs to watch from the ringside viewing berm. Tent seating is available for $55 per person or $450 for a table of 10.
In 2010, more than 300 people enjoyed the show jumping while seated under the tent, and another 400 cheered from the berm. This year the tent will be larger and moved to on a newly leveled, grass area on the south side of the Bay Arena, while the general viewing will be located where the tent used to be.
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“I think the format we’ve created with the evening performance turns it into something truly special for the people in the class and for the people watching them. It’s really a fun evening,” said event organizer Robert Kellerhouse.
Kellerhouse, who’s been running three events a year at the 280-acre Horse Park of Woodside since 2005, is similarly excited over the large and small improvements the park’s management has made in the last two years. This winter they leveled and reseeded the south side of the Bay Arena, allowing him to better accommodate fans with a more spacious tent.
“Every year it’s better than the year before , and it’s the best facility in Northern California,” said Kellerhouse. “They’ve done a great job of making it be what it should be. The property now is exceeding people’s expectation when they arrive for every event.”
The Woodside Preliminary Challenge offers two divisions: the Horse division is open to riders of any level of experience on horses that have not competed at the intermediate level or above in 2009, 2010 or 2011; the Rider division is open to all horses with riders who have not competed at the intermediate level or above in 2009, 2010 or 2011. Horses and riders must achieve two qualifying results at the preliminary level as a pair in order to compete.
Other generous sponsors of the Horse Trials at Woodside include: CWD Saddlery, Voltaire Design, Advanced Protection Formula, Riding’s Publications Inc., and Smartpak Equine. Proceeds from the Preliminary Challenge Gala Dinner benefit construction of the cross-country course at the Horse Park of Woodside.
To learn more about the Horse Park at Woodside or the Horse Trials At Woodside, go to www.horsepark.org. To learn more about eventing, visit the U.S. Eventing Association’s website www.useventing.com.
