'Others will follow Gatcombe'

Mark Phillips on losing a flagship event, the FEI and the new Olympic format

- Pippa Roome

IT’S easy to take things for granted. It was easy to assume, and assumption is always dangerous, that the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe, initially set up by the Princess Royal and I, would continue for another 40 years, with the next generation in charge. That this is not so is beyond sad.

Gatcombe, in order to put on the Festival experience, was not driven financially by entry fees, but by sponsorship and ticket prices. It had good sponsorship, but Gatcombe is a small venue and therefore limited in the number of spectators and tradestands it could accommodate. With insurance costs tripling, the venue was unable to raise the revenue needed to make the event viable.

Every venue is different, but I don’t foresee Gatcombe being alone among greenfield sites struggling for revenue in the next year or two. I am truly concerned about how this will change the face of the calendar.

I know a number of events this year are running without abandonment insurance. British Eventing (BE) have set up their abandonment fund for entry fees to help members, but this does little to aid organisers exposed to significant overhead costs.