The equestrian test event for the 2008 Olympics will not utilise the full length of the cross-country course which is currently being built on the grounds of the Hong Kong Golf Club and Beas River Country Club.
Only 2,000 metres of the 5,700-metre Olympic course will be used for the Good Luck Beijing/HKSAR 10th Anniversary Cup - the official test event for the Olympics - to be held from August 11-13.
A senior official of the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation, Edwin McAuley, disclosed that the reason for using just a little more than one-third of the required course had nothing to do with the state of readiness of the course.
'Work is going along smoothly and the course will be ready come August. But we are only using 2,000 metres because this test event is not designed to cater for the top horses, and also because half of the field will be local competitors who are amateur weekend riders,' explained McAuley, vice-president of the HKEF.
The test event which will only be held for eventing - this discipline also includes dressage and show jumping which are separate medal events at the Olympics - will cater for 20 overseas riders and 20 locals. The latter will only have to complete 2,000m, while the foreign riders will need to do 4,000m, by going around twice.
'During the Olympics itself, the riders will have to complete the 5,700-metre extended course. It is one long stretch, there won't be any loops. But during the test event, we will use only a small section of the course as the quality of the horses won't be as high and our riders are not full-time professionals,' McAuley said.
