The Underwriting Exchange Jumping in the City 2016 confirmed for Friday August 5th

Horse Sport Ireland has confirmed that The Underwriting Exchange ‘Jumping in the City’ will take place in Shelbourne Park on Friday August 5th.

The JITC Series which won the “Best Innovation in Sport” at the 2015 Sport Industry Awards will this year run for ‘one night only’. The event will incorporate The Westwood/IFor Williams Amateur class, The Underwriting Exchange Grand Prix and the Devenish Puissance.

The JITC event will coincide with the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games and will be an opportunity to celebrate the Irish equestrian athletes participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Irish Eventing team will commence competition at the games the following day, August 6th, followed by Dressage, Showjumping and the Paralympic Games which begin on September 11th.

Prof. Pat Wall, Horse Sport Ireland Chairman said:

“All three events went very well last year but due to Dublin Horse Show having to move its dates this year because of the Olympics, the equestrian calendar has compacted and the calendar is very full in June so we have decided to have one big JITC jamboree to herald the start of our Olympic adventure. Next year we will revisit the multiple venue format.”

Stephen O’Connor, The Underwriting Exchange said;

“We are delighted to be supporting the Jumping in the City initiative again this year. From a commercial perspective, the Agri-food/Equestrian sector is a developing sector for us in view of the changing market conditions and some carriers/Insurers exiting the Market.  As such we are delighted to put our support behind the initiative.  Hopefully it will be a spectacular night for the sport and will create some commercial opportunities for us in the long run.” he said.

Ray Buchanan, Showjumping Ireland Chairman said; “Jumping In The City was a huge success last year and we look forward to working with Horse Sport Ireland, The Irish Greyhound Board and the sponsors for this exciting event in 2016.”

Colin Walsh, Director of Commercial Operations, The Irish Greyhound Board said;

“We are delighted to be working with Horse Sport Ireland again for 2016. Jumping in the City is a special event and warranted winning the Best Innovation in Sport award last year. We believe the 5th August event in Shelbourne Park will be spectacular this year.”

ENDS

PHOTO CAPTION: Professor Pat Wall, Horse Sport Ireland Chairman pictured at the Punchestown Festival this week announcing the Jumping In The City date for 2016.