SOUTH OF ENGLAND SHOW THEME WINS HANDS DOWN - 11/06/2009

Top celebrity names in the racing world – including winning Grand National jockey Liam Treadwell – will take centre stage in a star studded line up to celebrate the joys of the turf at this year’s South of England Show.

In recognition of one of the country’s favourite sports, the Show has chosen the racehorse as its theme for 2009 and will mount a special arena parade to highlight the thoroughbred and its adaptability.

The parade, organised by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) will be led by Royal Ascot winner Emerging Market, now 17 years old, who belongs to show president Sir Philip Wroughton. He will be accompanied by other retrained horses as well as a racehorse ridden by Liam Treadwell, who shot to fame earlier this year as the 100-1 winner of the National on Mon Mome – his first ride in the famous race and the biggest outsider to win in 42 years.

The ring will also see appearances from other racing luminaries including leading trainers Jenny Pitman and John Dunlop and retired jump jockey Anthony Webber, all of whom will help judge show horses earlier in the day. Included in the parade will be horses from Moorcroft, the Slinfold based retraining centre run by RoR, British horseracing’s official charity for the welfare of horses that have retired from racing.

Deborah Barber, Director said: “The theme this year in celebration of the Thoroughbred was inspired by Sir Philip Wroughton, our President, and has brought this magnificent breed to the forefront of our Show on Thursday.”

The South of England Show is famous for its world-class equestrian events, but one breed outshines all others for its pulling power.

Heavy horses – sometimes known as Shire horses – were traditionally used to draw beer wagons for the major breweries. Now they regularly draw the biggest crowds at the Show, where they have made an appearance every year since the event began in 1967.

Although heavy horses tend to be synonymous with Shire horses, the Shire is just one of the heavy breeds. The others in the UK are the Clydesdale, Suffolk Punch and the British Percheron.

This year, the following remains as strong as ever with six teams of four taking part as well as several individual entrants from all over the South of England.

Elizabeth Cuff, Livestock Secretary of the South of England Agricultural Society, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the entrants this year; given the downturn in the economic climate it is encouraging that interest remains as high as ever.”

Top riders will be in action at showjumping events throughout the three days.

This year look out for the International Stairway Competition on Friday 12 June – a new showjumping class for our leading riders which forms part of a qualifying series. The winner of the final class later in the year will receive Bonus Rider Ranking Points to the value of £10,000. The pressure will be on and high stakes at hard to earn qualifying points for this prestigious series.

The Ardingly Ring will be the venue for other exciting show jumping on Friday and Saturday, and competitions will also be held in the Balcombe Ring on Thursday and Friday.

A wide variety of other equestrian events will be held throughout the course of the three day Show with 1800 horses and ponies taking part.

The Working Hunters will be in action in the Ardingly Ring on Saturday with the winners qualifying for the prestigious Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham from 7 – 11 October.