Erin Callahan’s 4YO winner Viennese
The IRT Young Event Horse classes followed a different format this year at the Saddleworld Melbourne International 3DE. Run as the indoor evening entertainment on the Thursday, the 4 year old class kicked off at 4pm in front of the usual panel of three judges, although for 2018 Denis Goulding was replaced by Barry Roycroft who joined his brother Wayne. The two well-known Olympians and coaches sat alongside event horse sales agent and former 4 Star eventer Sharon Ridgway.
This year the decision was made to incorporate the flatwork test for each entry prior to their jumping round over a combination of coloured rails and portable cross country fences. Once all competitors in each class had completed, the top six were brought back in hand for a brief judging of conformation. Whether this really worked compared to last year’s format was debatable as the evening drew out to a 10pm finish, by which time the gallery was very much depleted.
Fifteen came forward for the 4 Year Old class with the eventual winner Erin Callahan’s TB x WB “Viennese” by Copabella Visage scoring the highest mark in General Impression. The top mark for Jumping/Scope went to second placegetter “Fidel VEH” ridden by Isabelle Cowley, whilst Sarah May’s TB x WB “Rockefeller” by Royaldik slotted into third spot with the highest mark for Movement/Type.
Judge Barry Roycroft commented that these “were a great bunch of 4 year olds” and that he always pays close attention to the walk with Sharon and Wayne looking for lightness of movement. The general feeling from the judges was that with the recent change of scoring in the dressage phase, the purpose bred horses will need to show more thoroughbred qualities whilst maintaining elasticity of movement.
The 5 Year Old class produced a field of 22, judged over a course at 90cm with Jason Johnstone’s WB mare “Bellhaven Cumbria” ridden by Matthew Gaske taking the top spot, two points ahead of Madeline Wilson’s warmblood mare “Annie Jane” by Yalambis Carpino Z. Just a point behind in third place the strikingly coloured “Kingfield Ricochet” by Copabella Visage was ridden by Rachel Lyon.
Another Copabella Visage baby, Kingfield Ricochet ridden by Rachel Lyon
The judges summed up by saying that they had a reasonable amount of difficulty in coming to their unanimous final decision with Sharon commenting that “it was lovely to see at least 50% of the class being thoroughbreds with all entrants being beautifully presented and some lovely jumpers”.
The third and final class for 6 Year Old was also well supported with 19 entrants. The attractive WB x TB “Danson Lincoln” by Licosto was the clear leader providing a second win for owner/rider Erin Callahan. A joint top score in the jumping phase put Emily McQueen’s TB mare “Bransby Lace” in second place, with a former YEH winner by Copabella Visage Natalie Davies’ “Vulcan Elmare” taking third spot. It was great to see Nat back on board having recovered from a fall earlier in the year.
Amy Gotts-Wheeler with Sharvalley Thunder, 4th in the 5 Year Old class
Barry drew the evening to a close “for those of you who were prepared to hang around” by advising us that there were some lovely types that didn’t fit into the criteria that guide the judges. Suggestions were that better walks, plus flying changes from the older youngsters and clearer definition between working and medium trot would improve marks.
Commentator Nina Clarke (great to see Nina also back on her feet after a bad injury) thanked IRT as sponsors of the Young Horse classes along with Hamag and Jin Stirrups who provided prizes for the class winners.
Article by Sue Tufnell
Photos courtesy Click Capture Photography
Madeline Wilson and Annie Jane
