The 2018 OTTO Sport Australia Sydney CDI has received its largest entries in four years, with hundreds of the nation's best horses and riders set to compete at Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC) from May 2 to 5.

A total of 262 horses will be put through their paces in nearly 500 tests across four days of competition in what is Australia's most prestigious international dressage event.

Competition is set to be fierce as the OTTO SPORT AUSTRALIA Sydney CDI is an Equestrian Australia (EA) Nomination Event for the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG), taking place in North Carolina, USA, in September.

A number of riders have already gained two WEG qualifications on Australian soil, and will be looking to gain their third and final score. Among them are former WEG representative Brett Parbery, and Queensland rider Shannan Goodwin.

This year's OTTO SPORT AUSTRALIA Sydney CDI will feature competitions spanning levels from Advanced to Grand Prix and Para Equestrian, as well as young horse classes, attracting top riders from around Australia.

Included in the line-up are CDI 3*, CDI-U25 (for riders under 25 competing at Grand Prix level), CDI-Y for Young Riders 16 to 21 years, CDI-P (International Pony) for riders aged 12-16 years and for the first time, a CDI-J for Junior riders aged between 14 and 18 years.

The event will also introduce the Degree of Difficulty (DoD) Freestyle Judging System for the first time in Australia. Created by FEI 5* judge Katrina Wuest (Germany) in collaboration with computer guru Daniel Goehlin, the system has been developed to make judging the degree of difficulty in freestyle presentations more transparent and to ensure that the assessment of the various difficulties is the same for each rider, depending on the quality of the execution.

Tickets for the event are now on sale, and seats for the ever-popular Saturday evening Grand Prix Freestyle to Music event are selling out fast.

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit the event website at www.sydneycdi.com

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Information on OTTO SPORT AUSTRALIA: http://www.bsmsportequestrian.com.au/ottosport/
ENDS

FOR MORE INFORMATION (NFP): Toni Venhaus – toni.venhaus@bigpond.com: Krystyna Pollard – krystyna@pollard.net