From 2022 onwards Laurens Meynaerts will be organising a brand new concept at his Sentower Park: the STP Rider Series. "Flanders is the Mecca of equestrian sports and we want to fully invest in it with Sentower Park. That is why this new concept was created," he starts.
The STP Rider Series in a nutshell: for eight weeks spread over the entire summer, there will be CSI3* and CSI4* level show jumping at Sentower Park. A total of 1.6 million euros in prize money can be won and, of course, valuable points for the Longines Ranking can be earned each weekend. "Our accommodation is very centrally located and we want to give Belgians and foreign riders extra opportunities to jump at a higher level. Riders who are not in the top 100 of the FEI ranking sometimes have a hard time planning their summer. They are often asked to buy a table to be allowed to participate in a big competition. This is not the case with us: a rider who buys a Rider Pass is guaranteed a place at our competition. So they will be able to jump for eight weeks in any case, without having to make long journeys or constantly having to change locations".
"We are not only aiming at foreign riders," continues Meynaerts. "We also want to offer Belgian riders 200 extra places to jump at the highest level. I think this can be a great advantage especially for the youth riders. In this way we also want to contribute to the future of our sport at Sentower Park, because in the end the youth of today is the hope for tomorrow.
"Other advantages? Our competitions do not clash with Belgian CSI5* competitions and we will not be jumping on Sundays. Our competitions start on Wednesday, so Sundays are free. We have experimented with this 'competition weekend' in the past and the reactions were unanimously positive. In fact the whole STP Rider Series is an answer to the questions of riders. We hope to be able to welcome everyone back in a 'normal' way in the summer of 2022 for eight weeks of absolute top sport," he concludes.
