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The world’s top riders and horses promise the best of showjumping and the luxury equestrian lifestyle at the Longines Masters or Hong Kong
The world’s top riders and horses promise the best of showjumping and the luxury equestrian lifestyle at the Longines Masters of Hong Kong
When the Longines Masters, dubbed in tennis parlance as the Grand Slam of indoor showjumping, returns to Hong Kong this month, the glamour and excitement of the global equestrian competition will be augmented by the launch of Asia Horse Week, an East-meets-west platform for sharing knowledge and experience about the sport and lifestyle. The main event, the Longines Masters or Hong Kong, is as much a social and cultural calendar highlight as an equestrian spectacle, with its Prestige Village featuring a wide array of luxury shopping, live entertainment, gastronomy, fashion and contemporary art alongside the heart-stopping showjumping competition. The Masters Club provides VIPS with exclusive access to gourmet dining, wine tastings and the best view of the competition. And after-parties keep the fun going well after the horses have been blanketed for the night. With one million euros in prizemoney up for grabs, there’s plenty of motivation for the 30 elite riders vying for top honours in the tri-continental competition, which kicked off in Paris in December and ends in New York in April. Two of the main attractions are the Longines Speed Challenge, with riders driving their mounts over 1.45-metre fences in the world’s fastest showjumping event, and the Grand Prix, in which the horses tackle 12 obstacles and 15 demanding jumps of up to 1.6 metres. And there’s plenty of other equestrian action to keep fans and newbies enthralled for the entire weekend. In the words of organiser EEC, the inaugural Asia Horse Week series of seminars, conferences, national pavilions and other events “is set to become the world forum for the equestrian industry and the wider community.” Expect popup stores, workshops and conferences hosted by key players from the European, North American and Asian equestrian worlds, including Chinese Olympic rider Alex Hua Tian, on topics as diverse as horsemanship, breeds, health, wellbeing and biosecurity, Olympic preparations, and Hong Kong as an equestrian hub.
The Longines Masters of Hong Kong, which was named Best Live Experience at a Professional Sport Event in 2016 by Sport Industry Awards Asia, is at Asiaworld-expo from Friday, February 9 to Sunday, February 11. Tickets range from HK$230 for a single session standard seat in the grandstand to HK$35,000 for a Masters Club VIP Table of 10. Asia Horse Week runs from February 8 to 11. longinesmasters.com