OLYMPIC CHAMPION Blyth Tait and fellow New Zealander Mark Todd, an Olympic gold medallist in 1984 and 88, head the international field at the Blarney Castle three day event, which gets under way today with the first session of dressage.
Having upgraded to two star last year because of the cancellation of Punchestown, Blarney Castle is now well entrenched on the international calendar and this year's fixture has attracted riders from seven nations to take on the cross country track designed by Britain's Mike Etherington Smith, who will be in charge of the course for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
A complete revamp of the Blarney track has produced a substantially more inviting challenge and rain over the past few days has improved the going, which was very much on the fast side of good after the recent fine weather.
The first 30 international horses will be put through their paces in the dressage arena today, with the remaining 29 appearing before the ground jury tomorrow.
The national class also gets under way with the first 47 today, followed by the final 26 tomorrow and the 20 junior horses in a record field for the Co Cork fixture.
