FEI World Equestrian Games Awarded to Kentucky (USA)

The FEI Bureau today awarded the FEI 2010 World Equestrian to Kentucky (USA).

Delegations representing both bids – Kentucky (USA) and the region of Basse-Normandie (Northern France) – have travelled to Bahrain in order to make a final decisive presentation to the FEI Bureau this morning.

“Both presentations were very impressive” commented FEI President HRH The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón. “We were in presence of two excellent candidates, both with a strong political backing and a recognised organisational know-how”, she went on. “Basse Normandie and Kentucky are “horses” area and can count on the enthusiastic support of local experts in the field of equestrian sport, and on thousands of volunteers”.

Kentucky won the bid by a large majority. ”We are incredibly gratified to have been selected by the FEI,” stated John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park. “We are mindful of our great responsibility to properly organise the first non European FEI World Equestrian Games” he added.

The FEI Games are expected to have an economic impact of nearly USD 100 millions for the commonwealth of Kentucky. The Kentucky Horse Park will play host of the FEI Games at the end of September 2010.

“We are working on our candidature for 8 years. Within the hour the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games had been allocated to Aachen, we started working on our bid for 2010,” John Nicholson explained.

The FEI World Equestrian Games are the combination of the World Championships of all the FEI disciplines held concurrently at the same location. The first edition took place in 1990 in Stockholm and was a great success. It was followed by the The Hague (The Netherlands) in 1994, Rome (Italy) in 1998, Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) in 2002. Some 800 riders, drivers and vaulters and their horses, 1,500 media representatives and 500,000 spectators are expected to gather in the German city of Aachen in 2006 for the fifth FEI World Equestrian Games. Competitions – both team and individual – in seven FEI disciplines will be staged: Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Vaulting, Endurance, and Reining.

To clarify the ownership of the FEI World Equestrian Games and to establish an impacting long term brand structure, a new identity has been unveiled: the “FEI Games”. This new brand will be understood by all and improve the marketability of the most prestigious property of the FEI portfolio.

For high resolution logo of the FEI Games, please contact FEI Brand Manager Marcus Brugger at m.brugger@horsesport.org

For quotes of Kentucky representatives, please contact John Nicholsons at             +1 859/259-4201      . To contact the Basse Normandie representatives, call Nicolas Sokolowski at             +33 6 098 24 098