Four overseas Equestrian officials are slated to oversee an international CDI1* Dressage competition in Chhatarpur on the outskirts of Delhi. It is quite discouraging that the event, beginning on Tuesday, has just one entry since it comes in the wake of India winning team gold, and Anush Agarwalla the individual bronze, at the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The FEI website reveals that Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, 26, and his 14-year-old Bay stallion, Jai Dhwaj, were both registered on November 29, barely a week before the competition. There is no evidence of either of them having competed in any FEI events before, though the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) website shows him as being a registered rider for some years now.
Vivek Joshi, the Organising Committee Honorary President, confirmed that there was just one entry and added that a number of other entries were under CDN run under national rules.
Approved by FEI on November 6 and updated four days later, the event schedule lists four overseas officials to run the event – Ms. Mara De Bel-Groenhenboom (Netherlands) as Ground Jury President, Eduard De Wolff Van Westerrode (Netherlands) as Foreign Judge, Hanako Shirai (Japan) as Chief Steward and Ms. Deniz Halide Erdil (Turkey) as Assistant Steward.
FEI regulations lay down that 33 per cent of the total prize money must be given to the first-placed rider-horse combination even if there is just one participant. However, the Rathore-Jai Dhwaj combination will have to move past the Prix St. George and Intermediate-1 tests to the Freestyle with Music test on Thursday to be eligible for the prize.
Admittedly, this is not the first time that entries have been sparse in an international Dressage event in the country. Gaurav Pundir, Abhishek Chopra and Ariana Dhond competed in the two FEI Dressage CDI1* events held in Mumbai in January and February this year. But to have just one entry in an FEI event must be a rarity for the equestrian sport in India.
The first named has been involved in a running battle with the Equestrian Federation of India around the Asian Games selection and most recently, his entry was not forwarded to the organising committee of the FEI World Dressage Challenge in Jaipur since it had not been sent to EFI through one of its affiliated clubs.
The quartet of riders who won the Asian Games gold medal – Anush Agarwalla, Hriday Cheda, Divyakriti Singh and Sudipti Hajela – are based in Europe and would not risk transporting their horses to India since European Union regulations do not permit horses to be moved from India to Europe.
Shruti Vora, one of India’s best Dressage riders, has not competed in an FEI event since the World Equestrian Games in Herning, Denmark in September 2022. Similarly, Sweta Mirdha Hooda, who competed in CDI2* events in Meerut and Delhi last year, has not taken part in an FEI competition since November last year.
Photo: Anush Agarwalla (on Etro) in the Asian Games (for illustration purposes only)