Arezzo, great horse riding returns with Toscana Tour
The sixteenth edition of the largest and most well-known Italian show jumping circuit, Toscana Tour, was presented at the town hall
Arezzo, great horse riding returns with Toscana Tour,
After two long years of hiatus, the spotlight is back on the largest and most well-known Italian show jumping circuit, Tuscany Tours. The event, which has come to an end sixteenth edition and organized by Arezzo Equestrian Centre under the patronage of City of Arezzo and the collaboration of Fieracavalli Verona, will see the best international riders coming from the San Zeno (Ar) race fields as protagonists over 30 countriesready to battle from 22 March to 17 April to conquer a total prize pool of 800.000 euro.
For four weeks you can admire them in the extraordinary arenas Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarch and Vasari, the exploits of international knights such as Steve Guerdat, Swiss champion gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, the French Kevin Staut, Olympic team gold in Rio 2016 and the horsewoman Katharina Offel, Olympic athlete already protagonist of the WEG (World Equestrian Games) and three European Championships with the German national team.
The blue team is also thick and stands out Gianni Govoni, first in the Tuscany Tour roll of honor with 7 Grand Prix wins and the only Italian to have participated in 2 Olympics, 3 World Championships, 10 European Championships, 3 Mediterranean Games and 1 World Cup final. Together with him the policeman Emanuel Gaudiano, thanks to two appearances at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021 Olympics; Piergiorgio Bucci, winner of the Nations Cup in the CSIO in Rome 2017 and holder of the silver medal at the European Championships in Windsor in 2009. The three-time Italian champion will also be in Arezzo Emile Bicocchi, the airman Giulia Martinengo Marquet, Italian champion in Arezzo in 2018, the stainless steel Lucia Vizzini, Luca Marziani and the very young Giacomo Casadei, Guido Franchi e Filippo Bologni.
"The horse is the symbol of Arezzo – comments the mayor Alessandro Ghinelli - animal to which we are linked for historical reasons and for the role it plays in sporting competitions linked to the territory. Arezzo Equestrian Center, in fact, represents the small homeland of Italian horse riding thanks to a structure that is envied all over the world, managed for over ten years by Riccardo Boricchi e Carlo Bernardini. We extend our thanks to them for the passion and foresight with which they carry out this extraordinary project".
"Toscana Tour is undoubtedly the flagship of Arezzo sport. At an Italian level there are few competitions of this caliber, just think of the number of athletes it manages to involve in just four weeks, including staff members, judges, race directors, stewards, veterinarians and farriers. Arezzo's is an incredible machine, which every year brings enormous benefits not only to the sporting image of the city, but above all to the Arezzo tourism chain” – declares the councilor for sport and youth policies Federico Scapecchi.
"Equestrian Center represents an Italian excellence of which we are proud. I know this reality well, since the days of my commitment as sports councilor of the Municipality of Arezzo and I know the value it produces in economic and social terms for the Arezzo area: Toscana Tour has the strength to bring work throughout the province by operating the machine of hotels, farmhouses, restaurants, bars and shops. Boricchi and Bernardini deserve the credit for all this” – declared the senator Tiziana Nisini, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and former sports councilor of the Municipality of Arezzo.
"After two years of stoppage caused by the pandemic, returning to organizing our flagship event gives us an indescribable joy. We experienced moments of great concern, but now we are ready to restart the engines and the response from the riders was not long in coming. We count on the arrival of over a thousand horses per week, who choose Arezzo for the unique characteristics of our grass field. Since 2005 we have represented the gym for all world champions who want to prepare in the best possible way for the sporting season” – is the comment of the show directors Riccardo Boricchi e Carlo Bernardini.
FIERACAVALLI AND ITALIAN CHAMPIONS TOUR
The big news this year concerns the launch, Friday April 8, of two important equestrian events. After one show which will see Alessandro Conte, the Dimensione Maremma Association, Fattoria La Forra and Thomas Giampieri on stage, the 124rd edition of Fieracavalli, the point of reference event on the international equestrian scene, and the second edition of Italian Champions Tour, show jumping team circuit.
THE PROGRAM AND SERVICES
Every week, in the large arenas of San Zeno, competitions will be scheduled Bronze Tour, Silver and Gold Tour (CSI3* and CSI4*) together with international competitions reserved for riders Juniors, Ponies and Children and young horses. Overall they will be seven the categories valid for the purposes of Longines FEI Rankings, with the final Grand Prix of the CSI3* and that of the CSI4* which will allow obtaining the FEI Certificates of Capability for the upcoming World Championships in Herning (DEN) and the European Championships 2023 in Milano San Syro.
Don't miss the Gold Tour Sunday Grand Prix, with obstacle heights of up to one and a half meters and battles to the last breath during the famous "barrage".
Visitors who come to the Arezzo Equestrian Center will be able to take advantage of refreshment areas with bars, restaurants, hamburger shops and a new one shopping area with the best equestrian fashion brands and numerous saddleries.
Access in the stands and inside the equestrian center it is completely free. Furthermore, all Toscana Tour competitions will be broadcast in live streaming in the platform Play2ride.tv
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