Sonja Johnson andParkiarrup Illicit Liaison
The trade stands did a roaring trade in warm jumpers, gloves and jackets during the lunch break between the CIC3* and CCI4* dressage in Adelaide and the rain didn’t let up for the CCI4* riders in the afternoon session. For some, the weather conditions didn’t seem to affect the horses at all but for others the addition of cold gusty blasts to the flapping flags and the bigger atmosphere was not conducive to those important elements of relaxation and harmony
The two riders with two horses, New Zealand’s Donna Smith and Australia’s Sonja Johnson were the first two into the arena on DSE Tangalooma, a horse that Donna last rode here in 2013, and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison, who was part of Australia’s gold medal winning team at Aachen in 2016
Sonja was the first to break the 50 barrier with a score of 49.50, which left her in second place at the end of the day. Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison (Ben) may be seventeen years old but he still has some boisterous tendencies and he was tempted today; Sonja on the other hand was not ready to play and held him in check whilst having fun
Sonja Johnson
Donna Edwards-Smith and DSE Mr Hokey Pokey
For Donna it was the golden boy and 4* debutatant Mr Hokey Pokey that was her top horse. Unfortunately they didn’t finish in second place as we were led to believe in the interview but in seventh (51.90) while DSE Tangalooma also had a top ten finish in ninth place (53.70)
Clarke Johnstone and Balmoral Sensation lead the way
The star of the day for New Zealand however was Clarke Johnstone on Balmoral Sensation who took, and held, the lead with a score of 45.90. This pair finished third here in 2015 and had a stellar year in 2016 finishing fifth at Badminton and sixth at Rio, but they have not done much in 2017.
However when they do compete, they usually do it very well and that was the case today, although Clarke knows there were a few places they could have pulled in even better scores
The third place was taken by a third Antipodean Olympian, Megan Jones on Kirby Park Impress, a less experienced horse at her first CCI4* start, just 0.10 penalties behind Sonja on a score of 49.60
New Zealand’s Sam Felton enjoyed success in the CIC3* at Adelaide last year with third place on Ricker Ridge Pico Boo, having their first CCI4* start here this year but this was one of the usually very solid combinations whose performance seemed affected by the atmosphere and weather
“We had some great work but I was really surprised with how the atmosphere affected him” said Sam “He has never been so hot in the 10 years I have had him. I made some annoying mistakes which I was really disappointed with but I think the score showed there is lots to look forward to once we iron those out”
Sam and Ricker Ridge Pico Boo are still in a good position in fifth place (51.30) behind Australia’s Katie Taliana on Trevalgar II (50.80) in fourth. Katie too found that her horse started to tense up leading up to the test, resulting in some marks that could have been improved
Australia’s Tania Harding on the leggy Jirrima Yorkshire sits between New Zealand’s Sam Felton and Donna Smith in sixth place on a score of 51.80 and, with the scores so tight from second to seventh places (just 2.4 penalties separating them), this will be a group to watch closely tomorrow
There was disappointment today for some past winners with Stuart Tinney having some frustrating moments in the arena, particularly in the flying changes, with War Hawk who really doesn’t like this sort of weather it seems and Hazel Shannon on Willinga Park Clifford, currently in tenth place on 54.50
