Equestrian News A £1.1 million horse show was announced in Belfast yesterday in an attempt to attract a World Cup qualifier back to Ireland for the first time since 2000. The Belfast Indoor International Horse Show, which will run at the Odyssey Arena from November 27th-30th, offers a £250,000 prizefund which it is hoped will attract the cream of world show jumping.

The fixture already has a commitment from the world champion, Dermott Lennon, whose Co Down home is less than an hour away. Lennon, who is recovering from a broken shoulder from a fall in the final World Cup qualifier in Sweden 10 days ago, has confirmed he will compete at the Belfast fixture.

Fellow Northerner Trevor Coyle, who finished as runner-up in the 1999 World Cup final and will be the lone Irish representative at next week's finals in Las Vegas, has also pledged his support.

Briton Jon Doney has been signed up as show director, but a complete sponsorship package has yet to be agreed. Sheridan Promotions, the company that launched the show at the Odyssey, hopes to put together a quartet of backers to guarantee the £250,000 required in the £1.1 million budget.

"To get someone in at this short notice - and six months is short notice - to commit to a quarter of a million, it's just not going to happen," Sheridan Promotions' Mary-Rose Gilroy said yesterday. "We don't want a title sponsor, we want to split it four ways, so that more than one backer can be involved."

The vast Odyssey Arena can seat 7,000 and the organisers will be aiming to attract up to 45,000 people to the show. They also hope to win back the World Cup qualifier to Ireland for the 2004 fixture. The Irish qualifier was staged at the Dublin Indoor International between 1979-82, with a gap of 10 years before Millstreet took up the World Cup mantle, running the qualifier until 2000.