Adelaide cross country day full of action

Shane Rose and APH Moritz

Cross country day at the Deloitte Australian International 3 Day Event was full of action from start to finish.

Starting with the CCI2* the action kicked off with a field of 46 starters. Overnight leader Shane Rose held onto his lead riding Michelle Hasibar’s and Brett Jones’ Virgil. But there will no room for error in tomorrow’s showjumping phase with Kevin McNab less than two marks behind in second place. Lying third is Sonja Johnson riding the exciting prospect Belfast Mojito.

By the end of the afternoon Shane Rose was a very happy man; in the lead not only in the CCI2* but also the CCI4*. Shane blitzed round the course on Taurus and was the first rider to make the optimum time. “It was a really, really tough track but a fair track with good distances. I am really lucky to be riding such good horses and hopefully I will make a better job of tomorrow than I did at Melbourne 3 Day Event earlier this year where I had several fences down"

Sonja Johnson and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison (c) Nicole Bartleet

Lying second was Sonja Johnson riding Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison who sped round the track making it look a pony club course. “He’s such fun to ride,” said Sonja who has only been back competing since September following an injury earlier this year. “I’m really pleased with how he went today. I ran him at a two star event a few weeks ago where we deliberately collected about 50 time penalties as he (Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison) had to be reminded that he has to wait for me to tell him what to do and not be too enthusiastic.” This time last year NSW rider Emma Mason was lying in the lead after cross country. This year Emma and F1 Pharinelli are lying third. “He was really good and pulled up well so we’ll be trying hard tomorrow to finish on a good note,” said Emma.

Stuart Tinney and Panamera

Stuart Tinney had a mixed day when Pluto Mio misread Fence Seven and climbed the front of the fence – with Stuart doing a great job to stay on board. However Stuart decided that he would call it a day on Pluto and, with Lakes and Craters CCI3* coming up in a few weeks time, he may decide to take the talented grey there. His second ride of the day on Panamera was much more successful with the pair finishing clear. Due to a hold on course Stuart and Panamera were held for a short while and when his time was put up on the score board he went to discuss the matter with officials. The outcome was that the recorded 25.6 time penalties were reduced to 6.8 which moved him up to fourth place.

Megan Jones and Jester

Megan Jones dropped back down the order after her Beijing Olympic horse Kirby Park Irish Jester had a run out at the second duck brush after looking great up to that point. Her first ride Kirby Park Allofasudden went clear with four time penalties and finished in the top ten. The sad news of the day was when Emily Anker and Keniski fell at the Channel 7 corner. Keniski was so keen to get on with the job that he took a stride out between the HSBC Keyhole and the corner and Keniski just couldn’t make the stretch. Looking at the statistics from the day only two riders managed to go clear and under time while 10 others went clear. Seven had 20 penalites, two had 40, three retired and four were eliminated.