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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-19 Daily Xml
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Australian International 3 Day Event

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:13): Last Thursday I had the pleasure of representing the Premier at the welcome gathering for competitors and visitors to Adelaide for the international four-star three-day event at the Hilton Hotel that is also, I believe, a major sponsor of the event.

Karen Raffen, CEO of Brand SA, greeted me and other guests for this occasion held to mark the beginning of this prestigious event. It was great to see my former parliamentary colleague Karlene Maywald, and John Dawkins, a former MHR, among the very many distinguished guests assembled, who included, in particular, members of Australian equestrian family the Roycrofts, who have represented Australia so wonderfully for so many years; South Australia's own Copping family; and, of course, our current champions, Wendy Schaeffer and Megan Jones. The other South Australian champion, synonymous with the event, is Gillian Rolton who has put her heart and soul into making this event what it is. The esteem in which she is held worldwide provides Adelaide with the opportunity to be put onto the world equestrian map. Her Olympic rides on Peppermint Grove are legend.

I was able to recall perhaps the only thing my riding career has in common with hers, and that is we have both had broken collar bones in falls from horses, but while I was carted off and played no further part in the day's proceedings, Gillian and Fred went on to win an Olympic gold medal. Gillian is event director and president of the FEI eventing ground jury, as well as a national advanced dressage judge and an Australian selector. She is in constant demand worldwide and a real credit to the sport she has represented so passionately for so many years.

Held annually in November, the Australian International 3 Day Event is Australia's premier equestrian competition. The event includes competition across three disciplines: dressage, cross-country and showjumping. The Adelaide International Horse Trials began in 1997 to replace the Gawler horse trials that had been staged there since 1954. Many of us would remember trekking down to Gawler and watching the jump that very much recalled the man from Snowy River's exploits off the side of the river.

The new event debuted in the Adelaide east Parklands with a three-star rating but was subsequently upgraded to a four-star rating in 2002. From 1997 to 2003, the Australian International 3 Day Event was owned and run by the South Australian government. From 2004 until now, the event has been managed by Adelaide Horse Trials Management Inc. The South Australian Tourism Commission, through Events South Australia, is the major sponsor of the event and has been since 2004.

In 2011, the Australian International 3 Day Event became part of a worldwide pro tour of eventing—the FEI Classics series—with a prize pool of $330,000. It is the only CCI four-star event held in the Southern Hemisphere and one of only six in the world: Badminton in the UK, Burghley in the UK, Kentucky in the USA, Pau in France, and Luhmuhlen in Germany. The event is unique in the world, being the only one staged in the heart of a capital city, and must continue to meet strict criteria to maintain its four-star rating.

This year's event was held from 13 to 16 November. The biggest prize pool ever presented in the Southern Hemisphere for eventing was on offer with $120,000 in prize money up for grabs. An exciting line-up of Olympians and world champions was announced for this year's event, including Australian Olympian and badminton winner Sam Griffiths, German Olympic gold medallist and WEG winner Dirk Schrade, and crowd favourite Chris Burton—an Olympian and WEG team member who won last year's Australian International 3 Day Event.

The event included Polo in the Park on Friday night, with teams featuring an elite spread of players from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales battling it out for the Grant Burge Wines Polo in the Park trophy which was won by the Prydes Easi Feeds team, which was a composite group from New South Wales and Victoria. I refer to the article in The Advertiser of 17 November by Jesper Fjeldstad to advise that Western Australian Jessica Mason claimed her first four-star event after keeping Olympian Megan Jones to second place.

It actually came down to the last two rides of the day and kept the Victoria Park audience on tenterhooks. Mason, who held the lead from the cross-country the previous day, was the last rider of the day and had been put under considerable pressure by Jones, who was the local favourite. Placed second and riding second last, Jones finished with a clear ride aboard Kirby Park Allofasudden, but of course Jessica went on to also have a clear round and win the event.

Channel 7—another sponsor—crossed live to the event each day. I hope many more people get behind this event next year. I would like to thank too all the volunteers who make it possible. Without their help, an event of this size just could not happen. Each year, we welcome thousands of visitors to Adelaide for this event, and let us hope we can encourage some of them to return for some of the other fabulous events like the Santos Tour Down Under and the coming ICC cricket matches at the wonderful Adelaide Oval. There is truly something for everyone to see in Adelaide, and we look forward to welcoming all those international and interstate visitors back to enjoy more of our hospitality.

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