Kevin Babington and Shopour, winners of the $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix in 2014
Qualification for Sunday's event takes place on Friday with the $50,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Qualifier CSI4* Presented by LONGINES. Both these FEI Grand Prix classes, as well as the $40,000 LONGINES Cup on Saturday, award points toward the $30,000 LONGINES Rider Challenge which awards $30,000 and a LONGINES timepiece to the rider accumulating the most points in the Open Jumper Division throughout the week.
Two-time Olympic team Gold Medalists McLain Ward and Beezie Madden head the impressive list of show jumping superstars entered in this year's Classic. Ward has won the Hampton Classic Grand Prix a record six times and he is entered on Rothchild, the horse on whom he won the individual Gold Medal at the XVII Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada earlier this summer.
In addition to her two Olympic team Gold Medals, Madden also won the individual Bronze Medal in 2008 and the FEI World Cup Championship in 2013. She has been named the USEF Equestrian of the Year four times. She is entered on Cortez "C" on whom she just won the Longines King George V Gold Cup in Hickstead, England for the second consecutive year. She is the only woman rider ever to win the prestigious event in its 109-year history.
Other top U.S. riders slated to compete include Olympic veterans Margie Engle, Peter Leone, Peter Wylde, Chris Kappler and Mario Deslauriers, as well as crowd favorite Georgina Bloomberg, Ward's teammate on the U.S.'s Bronze Medal team at this summer's Pan Am Games.
Heading the impressive line-up of international riders is the defending champion in the Classic's featured event, Irish Olympic veteran Kevin Babington, who placed fourth in the individual competition at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Babington is entered on Shorapur, the mount he rode to victory in last year's $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix and to second place in the recent Longines International Grand Prix of Ireland at the Dublin Horse Show.
Other top international riders who have entered include Olympic veterans Daniel Bluman of Colombia and Liubov Kochetova of Russia, as well as Irishmen Darragh Kerins, who won the Hampton Classic Grand Prix in 2004, and Richie Moloney, who has won the Classic's $30,000 LONGINES Rider Challenge each of the last two years. Joining them is Ramiro Quintana of Argentina, who is fresh off winning a team Silver Medal at the Pan American Games.
More About the Classic
The Hampton Classic, the prestigious culminating event of the famed Hamptons' famed summer season, returns to Bridgehampton, NY, August 23-30, for its 40th year of world-class equestrian competition. Many of the world's top jumper and hunter riders come from across the country and beyond to compete for their share of some of the richest prize money in the nation.
The Hampton Classic features six show rings, a Boutique Garden with more than 70 vendors, and a wide selection of dining options and a Farmer's Market, all on its 60-acre show grounds. With its top competition and pristine setting, The Hampton Classic is not just a place to see, it's also a place to be seen. Just in the last two years, A-list celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Matt Lauer, Kelly Ripa, Julianne Moore, Sofia Vergara and Mary-Kate Olsen have been spotted enjoying the competition from the sidelines.
The Hampton Classic hosts more than 100 classes of competition for horses and riders of all ages and abilities. A wide range of hunter, jumper and equitation classes are offered from leadline classes all the way up to the grand prix level. The Classic also has classes for riders with disabilities. The Classic culminates on Sunday, August 30, "Grand Prix Sunday," with an impressive schedule of classes including three finals - the $30,000 7-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Finals, the $25,000 Campbell Stables Show Jumping Derby, and the $250,000 Hampton Classic Grand Prix Presented by LONGINES - in the Grand Prix Ring, as well as the $10,000 Hermès Hunter Classic in the Anne Aspinall Ring.
For those who can't make it to the show grounds, complimentary live webcasts of all Grand Prix ring classes will air on the Hampton Classic website, produced by ShowNet and courtesy of LONGINES, the official timekeeper of the Hampton Classic. In addition, WVVH-TV, the official Long Island television station of the Hampton Classic, broadcasts up to five hours of competition and highlights each day during the Classic. These broadcasts can also be seen on line at www.wvvh.tv. Most of the Classic's other classes will also be available on ShowNet.biz.
Further information on the Hampton Classic Horse Show is available at the Hampton Classic website at www.hamptonclassic.com or by calling 631-537-3177. Hampton Classic Horse Show, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation.