RICHMOND, BC – Richmond East MLA Linda Reid welcomed show jumping athletes to the community Thursday at Twin Oaks Farm, which is hosting the Western Canadian Championship of the Kubota Cup Canadian Show Jumping Series this weekend. Richmond is the gateway for athletes coming to Vancouver as it encompasses the Vancouver International Airport and is the site of the speed skating oval being built for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Speaking at a press conference, Reid, B.C.’s Minister of Minister of State for Childcare lauded the Kubota Series for coming to the Vancouver-area community which she noted has about 600 horses, and is an agricultural area. “I’m passionate about riding activity and anything connected to agriculture,” she said, adding that Premier Gordon Campbell is passionate about activity and the pursuit of excellence.” She said equestrian sport fits in with ActNow! BC, a provincial program whose stated goal is to make the province the healthiest jurisdiction ever to host an Olympic and Paralympic Games. Earlier, acting mayor Bill McNulty said that Richmond was pleased to have the Kubota Cup Series in the community since it promotes and supports the Olympic sport of show jumping.

One of the athletes who came to Twin Oaks specifically to compete in Sunday’s Kubota Cup is Canadian Equestrian Team member Karen Cudmore, a native of Victoria, BC who now lives in Omaha, NE. Although she has been competing in Ontario and Quebec this summer, where she recently won a World Cup Qualifier and the Kubota Cup Grand Prix in Bromont, QC with her stallion Conejo, she brought two other horses to Twin Oaks to compete for the Western Canadian Championship title. At the press conference she thanked Kubota Canada Ltd. and National Marketing Manager John Gilliland for their support for the sport, and for sponsoring a Series that is so important to show jumping.

Gilliland said Kubota is excited to be at Twin Oaks to present the Western Canadian champion with the crystal Kubota Cup trophy and a Kubota RTV900 utility vehicle, and to award the top five finishers in the West a bursary to attend the National Finals at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto in November.

The Twin Oaks Derby got underway Thursday with over 250 competitors riding over four days. Western Canada’s best grand prix riders will be competing in Sunday’s Kubota Cup Jumping Derby at 2:00pm. The course will be set by international course designer Peter Holmes of Victoria, BC, who noted that this is the only derby course that is part of the Kubota series. He said he plans to make creative use of the natural obstacles that are part of a derby course, and that it will be a specialized track designed to make sure the best horse and rider on that day are successful. “It will be a top standard course,” he said, indicating that the competition will be a challenging one for competitors, and an exciting one for spectators.

In conjunction with the Kubota Western Championship guests at a red carpet reception Saturday evening will get a preview of “Along For The Ride,” a 13-part television series that will begin airing on Global National Television and on PRIME TV on October 2. The production crew from Generator Productions is at Twin Oaks this week continuing to delve into the behind-the-scenes stories of show jumping and its riders, horses and other personalities. Another “first” will be the release of a new Canadian singing talent Craig McIntyre’s new album, which contains the Series’ theme song, also entitled “Along For The Ride.” McIntyre, accompanied by his band and Jon Van Wingerden, co-writer and producer of the album, will be performing at various events throughout the weekend.