Gemma Tattersall to be Crowned 2017 ERM for Season Finale at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials
Britain’s Gemma Tattersall. will be crowned the 2017 Event Rider Masters (ERM) Champion at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials this weekend. Having built an unassailable lead in the £400,000 Eventing series, Tattersall will be presented with the ERM series trophy and the winners cheque for £30,000 at the 2017 ERM series finale.
Tattersall has been an outstanding performer across the series. She made history at Leg 1 by becoming the first female rider to win a leg when riding the grey mare Quick Look V. Then, at Leg 5 she produced a remarkable cross country performance clocking just 1.2 time penalties, the quickest in the competition, with the former racehorse Arctic Soul, to secure her second win. In her three other ERM appearances, she has finished fourth twice, and seventh once, when riding Chico Bella P and Pamero 4. Tattersall has accumulated 108 series points and currently £45,000 in prize money across the legs, and she rides Chico Bella P this weekend.
Commenting ahead of the series finale, Tattersall said;
“I am delighted to have won the 2017 Event Rider Masters series. It was my aim to win the series this year and my horses have delivered incredible performances at every leg we have competed at to make this happen.
“Everyone who has supported me I am very grateful to, including my team, owners and of course the horses. I now can’t wait to ride Chico Bella P at the finale this weekend. I am going to really enjoy it and hopefully win!”
Battle between GBR, BRZ, AUS and NZL for series podium positions at this weekend’s finale
With the best four leg scores for each rider counting towards their overall series score, the battle for the final series placings is very much alive. Sarah Cohen (GBR), Sir Mark Todd (NZL), Shane Rose (AUS), Marcio Carvalho Jorge (BRZ), Tim Price (NZL), Oliver Townend (GBR) and Andrew Nicholson (NZL) are all in a position for podium finish if they produce a strong result this weekend.
Sarah Cohen is on 93 ERM points so far, having competed in five legs on her horse Treason, securing top ten finishes in all of them, including winning Leg 2 at Wiesbaden, Germany. This puts Cohen in second place on the series leaderboard, and she is guaranteed to finish no lower than third this weekend.
A place on the podium eluded Sir Mark Todd (NZL) in the 2016 series, however the former double Olympic champion put his ERM demons firmly behind him this year. He currently sits in third on the ERM leader board on 69 points, with three top ten ERM performances including finishing in third place at Leg 3. He is the only competitor who can challenge Sarah Cohen for second in the overall series, and rides Kiltubrid Rhapsody for the fourth time in 2017 this weekend, who he finished in fourth place with at Leg 5.
Leading the challengers for Sir Mark’s third place in the series is Shane Rose who secured the first win for Australia at Leg 6 riding Virgil. Rose sits in fourth on the leaderboard on 58 points and this weekend partners his 2016 Olympic horse CP Qualified.
One of the strongest fields in ERM history with ten nations represented also features this weekend, including the king of speed Chris Burton (AUS) riding Graf Liberty, who finished second on the podium at Leg 6 last month. Additionally, Be Touchable and Izzy Taylor (GBR) arrives at Leg 7 in strong form having recently won the CIC three star at Mill Street. The 2016 ERM series winner Oliver Townend (GBR) with Cooley Master Class, who he has ridden into third place twice across the series this year, is also earmarked to produce strong challenge for the podium. A mouth-watering two days of ERM Eventing is in store as the riders battle it out for the £50,000 prize fund.
All the action from Leg 7 can be viewed live and free globally on Facebook Live and at eventridermasters.tv. A highlights programme will be aired across global TV channels next week, including Sky Sports Action in the UK on Thursday 21st September at 6pm.
The 2017 Event Rider Masters
Now completing its second year, in 2017 the Event Rider Masters increased its number of competition legs from six to seven. It also expanded its presence into mainland Europe with legs in Wiesbaden in Germany and Haras de Jardy in France. With a total of £400,000 guaranteed in prize money across the 2017 series, ERM is the most valuable competition of its kind in the sport of Eventing.
- Live Stream – 185,000 viewers across the 2017 series to date via eventridermasters.tv, Facebook Live and Youtube, with an average dwell time of more than 24 mins
- The top 10 countries viewed from; UK, France, US, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden
- A one-hour highlights program of each leg aired in 43 countries
- Facebook – 7.5 million reach. 250% growth in Facebook followers this year with UK and Brazil joint top in number of fans
- Technology / innovation – ERM pioneered the first ever live broadcast of the rider cam at Leg 4, Haras De Jardy as well as broadcasting live SAP cross country tracking and speed data
For more information eventridermaster.tv.
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Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.