Kubota Cup Canadian Show Jumping Series Officially Launched
The Kubota Cup Canadian Show Jumping Series was officially launched Thursday at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair to a crowd of riders, local community and Fair officials, Kubota dealers, the public and six of the seven show managers who will host the Series at their show venues across Canada. They were part of the excitement that has been building all week in anticipation of Saturday night’s $35,000 Kubota Cup Grand Prix in Brandon.
Winter Fair officials and Mayor Dave Burgess, expressed their pleasure in hosting the Series’ debut in Brandon and thanked Kubota for making it possible. Gary Brewster, a grand prix rider from Vancouver, BC who will be vying for the Western Canadian Kubota Cup Championship, told the crowd that the multi-year sponsorship by Kubota Canada Ltd. encourages riders to compete more often in Canada rather than going south of the border. He said the amount of media attention it is getting, plus the 13-part television series that is being created to air on national television this fall, helps riders such as himself to get their own sponsorship to aid in the development of themselves and their horses to represent Canada at the international level and ultimately the Olympics. “We haven’t seen a marketing machine like this for show jumping in years”, said Brewster.
Steve Gould, a member of Jeff Stoughton’s Manitoba’s men’s curling team, which is also sponsored by Kubota Canada, said the assistance from Kubota has been a big advantage to their development. This fall they will be looking to secure the berth to represent Canada at next year’s Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
John Gilliland, National Marketing Manager for Kubota Canada, told the audience that his company saw a great opportunity to become involved with show jumping. “I saw a natural fit between the horse community and Kubota,” he said, adding, “The excitement just grows and it builds and it’s being shared by our dealers here. They are getting the feel for what it is about and they are excited.” He said the fact that the series is national and can involve the company’s 150 dealers across the country was a big factor in their signing a multi-year commitment to the Series. This year a total $320,000 is being offered as prize money for the Kubota Cup Grand Prix across the country.
Thursday’s launch also heard for the first time an instrumental version of “Along For The Ride”, the theme song for the television series. Written by Keith Glass, the guitarist with the Juno award-winning band Prairie Oyster, it will be released as a single by new Canadian singer Craig McIntyre, who was Master of Ceremonies at Thursday’s Kubota Cup kick-off.
International course designer Richard Jeffrey of England will design Saturday’s Kubota Cup Grand Prix course which will be challenged by many of Canada’s top grand prix riders including last year’s Saturday Grand Prix winner Karen Cudmore and her horse Moxie.
Grand Prix rider Gary Brewster of Vancouver, BC talks at the launch of the Kubota Cup Show Jumping Series about the importance of athlete sponsorship. The show managers of the seven venues that will be hosting The Kubota Cup are (L-R)Trevor Graham (Richmond, BC), Caroline Jones (Edmonton, AB)), Karen Oliver (Brandon), Ainsley Hayes (Collingwood, ON), Donna Gramling (Ottawa, ON), Roger Deslaurier (Bromont, QC) with John Gilliland, National Marketing Manager, Kubota Canada Ltd. (Missing manager from Halifax, NS show) |