stoufiville suntribune thursday sept 11 2003 23 olympic qualifying event gearing up for best show yet byjohncudmore staffwriter it isnt your runofthemill horse show in fact the tournament of champions is anything but your typical horse show since it offers a little bit of something for a wide range of tastes in essence the event is a cultural weekend fair but with obvious heavy leanings to the equestrian community slated for sept 18 to 21 at the york equestrian centre near newmarket the event celebrates its sixth year since a reincarnation that has seen the tournament of champions rise to an exalted status in the industry as one of the top shows in canada breathing life back into the tournament of champions following a sevenyear absence was not easy par ticularly following the death of hans pracht a former owner of the current venue it was a huge commitment to keep alive and support waned recalls iiz shaughnessy media coordinator for the event but some of us were sitting around and started brainstorming and decided it would be great to bring back one of the great events for the members of the show jump ing community tournament of champions is a mustdo on almost all schedules and that is even more so now that the second day friday of a threeday program is also a world cup qualifying event tournament is the plum event on the eastern canada circuit says ms shaughnessy it markets itself as an event and packages other things around it were not a horse show were an event it was that approach from step one says tournament general manager mac mcquaker that guided the event to what it is today all of us are in the horse business and familiar with the tournament of champions said mr mcquaker when it was gone it created quite a void in september for a good horse show its quite a gap from the august shows to the royal winter fair side attractions such as the popular family village offer family entertain ment in a wide range of areas including the 40exhibit boulevard of champions arts crafts antique fair apettingzoo the home depot kids workshop and dressage and western style reining demonstrations as- well demonstrations by the dogsmart perforrnirig teams and the raptor conservancy birds of prey will thrill spectators tournament does things other events dont do and ifs a nice place to bring the family for die day says ms shaughnessy the riders have families too and appreciate these extras but all the added attractions aside it remains the show jumping competition that holds marquee status as top names in the sport compete for the 1 10000 in prize money at stake over three days culminating with the 50000 mercedes benz canada cup final sunday at 2 pm we want it to showcase our riders theres a lot of horse shows but not a lot of fanfare to get the public out sowell do anything to get the people out she says as long as theres full stands for sundays grand prix well do anything to get people out modelled after the world cup final sundays competition starts at 2 pm and features the top 20 performers from fridays 50000 world cup qualifier and thursdays 10000 speed classic the field is expected to include defending champion meghan lamaze along witn husband eric lamaze beth underhill and ian millar among others also showing during the weekend will be jacqueline brooks and evi strasser silver medalists in dressage at the recent pan american games and christilot boylen and eelinda trussell recent qualifiers on behalf of canada for the 2004 olympics in athens the centre is located just east of newmarket on hwy 9 admission is free thursday and friday for saturday and sunday admission is 5 per person or 10 per car including parking the field is expected to include defending champion meghan lamaze eric lamaze beth underhill and ian millar among others beth underhill makes a jump at last years tournament of champions event the home depot canada takes great pleasure in supporting the childrens wish charity challenge saturday sept 202003 atthe tournament of champions with our vendor partners we are pleased to help make wishes come true for these very deserving children dynamic forest products baily metal products canadian forest products timber specialties bell pole forest products inc trent timber treating ltd jd irving limited plastival inc ram forest products inc vendor partners dricore division of longlac wood industries inc prince plasties co colonial pillars inc gsw building products praire forest products taiga forest product rbxiil inc cgc inc sauder industries louisiana pacific canada ltd abfco masonite introchman universal doors guelph utility polestella jones use hickson products ltd spruceland millworks inc columbia forest products ram forest products inc with additional donations from abitibi consolidated inc domtarijnc mr goodbar eoncpi plasties finley products inc canada wood kingstajfproducts inc alexandria moulding architechturar ornament lncl- f f4j