Portugal's Quintas De Obidos Welcomes World Famous Irish Showjumper Jessica Kuerten Submitted By: Content Matters Monday, 24 September 2007

Portugal's Quintas de Obidos welcomes world famous Irish showjumper Jessica Kuerten Submitted by: Content Matters Monday, 24 September 2007

WORLD RANKED SHOWJUMPER and IRISH TELEVISION PERSONALITY JESSICA KUERTEN ANNOUNCES THAT CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN ON HER NEW EQUESTRIAN CENTRE NEAR OBIDOS IN PORTUGAL’S SILVER COAST. Obidos – 20th September 2007. Top ranked Olympic show jumper and Irish television personality Jessica Kuerten (nee Chesney) announced this week that pre-construction has begun on her new equestrian centre in the Quintas de Obidos Country Club in Portugal’s Silver Coast. “It’s rare to find a project that offers so much”, says world number three Jessica, 38, who is also reigning British Open champion after her recent victory at the British Open in Birmingham on her horse Galopin de Bioley. “This equestrian centre bears my signature and I’m really excited about it. Plus the site itself will offer a truly luxurious and exclusive atmosphere and its location in the Silver Coast, one of Portugal’s most beautiful and unspoilt regions, is wonderful.” Jessica Kuerten can also clearly see the area appealing to well-heeled buyers in search of the perfect sunshine weekend retreat. “Quintas de Óbidos is a unique place where privacy and exclusivity are assured by generous plots of land framed by fantastic fresh water lakes”, she says. “The villas are simply amazing”. Jessica’s involvement in the equestrian centre at Quintas de Obidos began 18 months ago after she met the resort’s Portuguese owner, Miguel Pereira de Abreu. His vision for the estate is clear - to create Portugal’s most exclusive and private country club, where just 79 large lakeside homes will surround Jessica’s equestrian centre, a private helipad and a country club and spa. “I realised that several top international show jumpers were already bringing their horses to the Silver Coast for several months a year”, says Miguel. “The weather here is warmer and the livery costs are lower than in the rest of Europe. “Jessica has been closely involved in the design and detail of her equestrian centre since day one. This week we started the infrastructure and landscaping, and by September next year the centre will be nearing completion. “But the Obidos area is also perfect for golfers – we have the top ranked course of Praia D’El Rey just next door. And in three to four years time Quintas de Obidos will have no less than four top golf courses on its doorstep – apart from the new course next door at Bom Sucesso which opens later this year, top golf course designers Seve Ballesteros and Pete Dye are also working on two new courses nearby at Royal Obidos and Falesia D’El Rey. “We also offer the largest land plots in the region, with each house set amidst an eco-landscape of

Page 1 olive trees and natural biological lakes, plus we are only 60 minutes from the centre of Lisbon, with all its restaurants, shops and museums.” So far buyers at Quintas de Óbidos include wealthy British, Irish, Spanish and Portuguese families who value the privacy, security and luxury that the resort will provide. Less than 50 minutes from Lisbon’s international airport, the resort also offers sailing and waterskiing on Obidos lagoon and surfing on the nearby beaches at Baleal. At Quintas de Óbidos, 60-plus 1.3 acre/5,200m2 plots are still for sale, starting from Euros 520,000. Prices for a complete property (4,500 sq.ft/425 m2) which includes the land, a luxurious five bedroom villa, an outdoor pool and all landscaping, range from Euros 1.4 to 1.8 million. The sales office is now open on site. ENDS For further sales information contact www.quintasdeobidos.pt Tel + 351 22 606 1540 UK Agents: Dan Force-Farquhar at Knight Frank LLP Tel +44 (0) 20 7629 8171/7861 1518 Email [email protected] Irish Agents: Emily Cooper at Ganly Walters Tel +353 1 662 3255 Email [email protected] www.ganlywalters.ie For further press information contact Christina Hippisley Content Matters Ltd. Tel + 44 7779 270226 email [email protected] Notes to Editors: Jessica Kuerten (nee Chesney) Background

Page 2 Born in Cullybacky in Northern Ireland in 1969, Jessica Chesney is one of five children of a dentist father, who was also a successful horse breeder, and an artist mother. Two times Irish champion while still in her teens, Jessica quickly rose to the top echelons of Irish and then international show jumping. In 1995 she married German show jumper Eckard Kürten, and the couple now live and work in their yard, Chesney Farm, near Hünxe in Germany’s Rhineland, travelling constantly to competitions all over Europe. After several important victories this year, Jessica is currently number three in the world show jumping rankings and a member of the Irish Olympic team. TV career Jessica’s latest TV project, in which disadvantaged Irish children learn how to ride at her German yard, is now being transmitted by Irish broadcaster RTE on Thursdays at 20.15. Jessica also appeared in BBC One’s recent reality TV show Only Fools on Horses, where British celebrities learned to show jump under intensive tuition from the world’s best riders. See www.jessica-kuerten.de for more The Silver Coast Portugal’s Silver Coast region (within the Oeste region of Portugal) lies 40 minutes north of Lisbon airport. It centres on the historic village of Óbidos and its lagoon, but also stretches down to Torres Vedras and up to Caldas da Rainha. The region has seen a steep increase in property values over the last 5 years as the new A8 motorway to Lisbon has improved access, and the beauty of the region’s golf courses, beaches and landscapes has become more apparent to outsiders. The top ranked golf courses of Estoril, Quinta da Marinha/Oitavos, and Penha Longa are only 45 minutes drive away. The Silver Coast’s own local golf courses of Praia d’El Rey, Quinta do Brinçal and Campo Real already attract top golfers, and three more local courses, at Bom Sucesso, Royal Obidos and Falesia D’El Rey, are due to open in the next 2-4 years. There are also two 5 star hotels in the region - the beach front Marriott at Praia d’El Rey, and the Westin Hotel at Campo Real which opens in October 2007. Prices in the Silver Coast around Obidos are still 30% lower than equivalent properties in the Algarve, and the region’s beaches, restaurants, healthy lifestyle and proximity to Lisbon mean it offers a real alternative to buyers keen to escape the price inflation and overdevelopment of the Algarve.

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