European Horse-riding Championships.

8-11 Sept 2005. This month Blenheim will be host to 19 European nations when the Blenheim Petplan European Eventing Championships are held for the first time in the palaces magnificent surroundings. Austria, Croatia, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine are among those participating with teams or individual riders competing for the title of European Champion 2005. The competition will be a four-day event involving three phases: dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The British team are defending the European Champion title which they won in 2003, but they are facing stiff competition from the strong German squad as well as from France, the reigning Olympic champions and Sweden, whose top rider Linda Algotsson is the dual winner of Eventings World Cup final. Among the younger competitors is Zara Phillips, daughter of the Princess Royal, a European Championship winner back in 1971. French rider Nicolas Touzaint, a member of the gold medal-winning French team in Athens, is the reigning individual European Champion. Thurs 8 and Fri 9 will be dedicated to dressage and show jumping: 9.00-16.00, Sat 10 is the turn of cross-country: 10.00-16.15, and Sun 11 sees the grand finale with the special dressage and exciting Celebrity Pairs cross-country events followed by the medal award ceremony: 8.00-16.15. Admission prices at the gate range from 4 to 20. Children under 14 free.