Having a World Cup in Kuala Lumpur was a surprise to many people because this is not necessarily considered horse country. Yet it was in 2001 that the first idea was suggested while they were at the same time planning to host a new visionary event in 2003 known as the KL Grand Prix, which would be the first stepping stone to the World Cup Finals.

Those behind the idea brought in Peter Imran Winton to oversee the project of the Grand Prix and the World Cup. The task of setting up everything for both events suddenly became his responsibility to oversee. That certainly was a daunting task but one he took on with great verve.

Since Malaysia is not necessarily a horse country in the competitive sense, this was the most difficult barrier to cross. “Malaysia is not traditionally an equestrian country. They have a horse culture but they are not a competitive country,” explained Winton.

“We were very lucky that the Prime Minister at the time was a keen horseman. He became enthusiastic enough about bringing a Five Star event to Malaysia, and that opened more doors,” continued Winton who emphasized how important it was for the political community in an Asian country to be behind anything you want to succeed in.

Tourism Malaysia believed in what they were doing and joined on as presenting sponsor of the World Cup and a host of other in kind and money sponsors also have added their names to the sponsorship roster.