Unique National Championship Tournament Coming to 2019 AZ. Sun Circuit
By: Brittany Bevis
Always known for their innovation, The Arizona Sun Circuit is proud to announce a new competition that will take place at the 2019 event. The National Championship Tournament is an exciting competition that will debut at the March 2-10 show at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The National Championship Tournament is based on a ranking system where distinguished, industry professionals will be polled twice annually to rank elite exhibitors in classes like Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Equitation with separate divisions for Select, Amateur, and Youth. The professionals will be asked to rank exhibitors in each division from 1-25 with 64 names compiled from results submitted by Top 20 AQHA and color breed horse shows. Exhibitors 26-64 will be listed in alphabetical order with no ranking.
Who makes up the Ranking Committee? Judges and trainers have been strategically selected to represent all areas of the lower 48 states. Members of the Ranking Committee will remain anonymous and won’t know who the other members are.
“Sun Circuit is thrilled to be hosting the National Championship for Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Equitation,” says Show Manager Doug Huls. “True excitement has been the response from every individual who was consulted on the development of this new program. Many indicated this could change the dynamic of the industry- a true game changer.”
The first poll will be announced the third Saturday of July each year when results from participating shows will be provided to the Committee for evaluation. All participating shows will receive a National Championship logo to acknowledge they will be participating in the program. Any exhibitor who doesn’t appear on the summer ranking may submit their current year show results and a letter of 100 words or less by email to the event they wish to be considered for. Emails must be submitted between November 15th and December 1st of the current year for consideration.
Email address for each event are:
ShowmanshipNatChampionship@gmail.com
HorsemanshipNatChampionship@gmail.com
EquitationNatChampionship@gmail.com
The second poll will be released the second Saturday of December. Results from the Top 20 shows, NSBA World Show, AQHA World Show, and color breed World Shows will be provided to the Ranking Committee. It’s important to note that this is not a horse and exhibitor poll, but instead an exhibitor ranking system. Once exhibitors have been ranked, 64 individuals in each division will be recognized and eligible to compete at the Sun Circuit for the National Championship in each event.
Exhibitors will show to the first set of judges as part of the regular draw at the Sun Circuit. Eligible Paint Horses and other color breed horses not showing in AQHA classes will compete in a separate draw immediately following AQHA classes. AQHA, APHA, and NSBA ownership rules will apply. All exhibitors will be welcome to compete in these classes at the Sun Circuit, whether they are on the list of 64 eligible exhibitors or not, and L2 classes will be held within each division.
When the class is complete, the high scoring 16 exhibitors will be recognized with the Sensational 16 Award. Then, the Sensational 16, and other exhibitors, will show to the second set of judges as part of the regular draw at the Sun Circuit. After the class is complete, the Exceptional 8 will be recognized. Then, the Exceptional 8, and other exhibitors, will show to the third set of judges as part of the regular Sun Circuit draw. After the class is complete, the Final Four will be recognized.
The Final Four will then compete for the National Championship title in a head-to-head competition with the highest ranking exhibitor competing against the lowest ranking exhibitor and the second highest ranked competing against the third highest ranked. The winner of each battle will come back to compete against each other to be named the National Champion!
Stay tuned to EquineChronicle.com for more information as the results of the polls are released. For more information about the Arizona Sun Circuit, visit www.suncircuit.com.
