THE ORGANISERS of the Royal Highland Show (June 24th – 27th) were delighted to announce recently that virtually all of their show jumping sponsors have remained on board for the year 2010 despite the recession – with several increasing their funding.

Chief among these is Graham Gillespie, under the banner of his Gillespie Investment Group, who is funding the Grand Prix class with a first prize of £5,000 because he feels that the show is an ideal platform for him to promote his interest in the renewable sector.

Graham has also committed sizeable sponsorship to Michael Whitaker through to 2012 (as reported in Horse & Hound recently).

A stalwart of Scottish show-jumping Andrew Black has upped his sponsorship to £3,600 for his class run under Table C – and there is an additional bonus that one the first three riders in this class will have the guarantee of “doubling their money” to £2,400, £1,600 or £1,150, following a mini jump-off.

A W Jenkinson Forest Products are a new sponsor – they are supporting an all-new championship class, this being the “Star of the Future” for horses that have won less than £2,000 at the time of qualification. Riders in this will be competing for a £650 first prize.

Vet Anne Logan who is the Chief Steward of Showjumping at The Royal Highland said: “I am thrilled to be able to offer a prize fund of £42,000 plus for the four days.

“Show jumping in Scotland is very exciting at the moment, with several of our riders carving names for themselves on the national and international scene.

“The Highland Show is always keenly anticipated, with the Sunday being essentially Scottish championship day, however we very much look forward to welcoming riders from England, Ireland and Wales and we hope that the prize money will help entice them to Edinburgh for four days of competitions, where we will guarantee a warm Scottish welcome!”

The showground is ideally located right next to Edinburgh Airport close to the motorway network. Qualifiers for the classes will be held throughout the year until the end of May at venues such as Rowallan AC, Ingliston EC, Scottish National Equestrian Centre and in the North of England

For further details or to request a schedule, call 0131 335 6213.