Tom Struzzieri, Owner and President of Horse Shows In The Sun (HITS), and his staff hosted a press conference on May 16 at the HITS-on-the-Hudson show grounds in Saugerties, NY. Members of the press received details of the $150,000 Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship, followed by a tour of the new HITS High-Performance Horse Complex. Struzzieri was joined by Maurice Hinchey, US Congressman for the 22nd District of New York; David Cornstein, Chairman of the New York State Olympic Games Commission; Allen Brill, President and CEO of Rolex Watch USA, Inc.; James Wolf, Executive Director, High Performance, USEF; Chris Kappler, Team Silver Medalist and Individual Bronze Medalist, 2004 Olympic Games; and Michael Berg, Executive Director, Family of Woodstock.

Struzzieri described some recent improvements to the HITS-on-the-Hudson facility. “We have added seven new barns to replace the tent stabling used last year, bringing our total permanent stalls up to 1,200. We have also added 50 RV sites for a total of 100. A new ring has been added, allowing us to have competition in 10 rings simultaneously, making us a pretty unique facility. Most importantly for the championship, we have built a High-Performance Horse Complex with 80 permanent stalls, its own schooling and longing areas, all fenced in and secure. In order to meet the standards of international competition, the area needs to be secure with access by credentials only. The complex is a big plus for this site, not only for this event but for future events that we hope to attract, perhaps some Olympic qualifiers in the future. This year’s Rolex/USEF Championship is a three-legged competition taking place on Wednesday, Friday and then the final leg on Sunday. Sunday’s competition is the one that we hope to get a big crowd for, and we hope the entire County of Ulster will come out to see it. The equestrian world will be watching the event that weekend, and television (HDTV) will film it, which we are very excited about.”

Struzzieri passed the microphone to Congressman Hinchey. A strong supporter of the HITS-on-the-Hudson project from its early beginnings, Congressman Hinchey offered his congratulations on a great inaugural year and continued success for the future. “People are just very thrilled at having this operation here, with the great excitement and all of the exhibition that goes with it. This is a very important day, Rolex is a magical name with a lot of prestige, and to have it associated with this upcoming event in June, I think it is quite marvelous.”

Cornstein expressed his pleasure at being present to represent Governor Pataki. “We’re getting very close, as you might know, to finding out which city will have the honor of hosting the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. And I think that this would be a wonderful gain not only for New York City, New York State, and our country, but it would also be a marvelous endeavor for this sport as a whole, because the public are not as familiar with the equestrian events that are a vital part of this, as they are of other sports.”

Brill received a round of applause when he opened with, “You know this is Saugerties, Ulster County, but wherever there are equestrian events I think its always Rolex country.” He expressed his delight to be on the stage with so many good friends from the United States Equestrian Federation, and his honor to share the stage with Olympic Medalist Chris Kappler. “This year Rolex is celebrating our 25th anniversary with the USEF and we have sponsored the National Show Jumping Championship since 1997. We go back a long way, and we join all in New York State to welcoming the 2005 Championship to Saugerties at this outstanding facility.”

Wolf added, “The USEF is thrilled to bring the National Championship to this terrific facility, and we are confident that this will be one of the premier events that