Trump Rink Transformed As Central Park Horse Show Trots Into NYC

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New Yorkers will be ponying up to Trump Rink this weekend for the first ever Central Park Horse Show, a combination of sport and show meant to appeal to the masses.

"We have four days to transform Trump Rink into an equestrian venue," CEO of the International Equestrian Group, Mark Bellissimo, said.

Bellissimo says it was challenging but they did it, much to the delight of native New Yorker and professional equestrian Georgina Bloomberg-- daughter of former mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"It's amazing, my favorite place in the world," she told CBS 2's Vanessa Murdock. "To be able to combine equestrian sport with my favorite city is really a dream come true."

Georgina has been riding for more than 20 years.

"It's beautiful," she said. "The element of having an animal in the sport and it not just being about the human being is very unique and very exciting to watch."

On Thursday night, she won the Central Park Grand Prix, a jumping competition, and rides again Friday night in the Pro-Am Speed Challenge.

She is just one of the many Olympic-caliber athletes returning to the city for the first time since the National Horse Show trotted away from Madison Square Garden in 2001.

"The adrenaline…the adrenaline is amazing," 18-year-old Juan Bollini said, a member of the U.S. Polo Association Team.

He'll face off against some of the world's best polo players in the world Sunday night.

"It's crazy. It's amazing how the U.S. Polo Association organized all this," he said.

From dirt to the grandstands, it is all meant to re-energize and expose the sport to the city, Murdock reported.

"Evolve it into something that really is the premier event on the calendar for equestrian sport," Bellissimo said.

The Central Park Horse Show runs all weekend long and a chunk of the proceeds will go toward charity.

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