Clarke has been enjoying quite a bit of champagne recently! Jackson and Clarke celebrate at Puhinui
It was a double whammy for Clarke Johnstone in the CCI2* at Puhinui, with not only his own win on Kate Woods’ Wolf Whistle II but also a win for his pupil Jackson Bovill in the CCI2* Young Rider class.
“It’s always so much harder jumping under pressure on the last day of a three day event and the scores were really close. But I was really proud of the way Jackson rode, it was a really good round, it was a smart round and it deserved to be clear” says Clarke
Clarke is one who knows all about jumping under pressure at major events, being a CCI4* winner and New Zealand’s top rider at the 2016 Olympic Games, and he pulled off another double clear show jumping round at Puhinui for the CCI2* win. Wolf Whistle II will now step up to 3*and Clarke will continue to compete him for his good friend Kate while Wolf Whistle is on the market
Another experienced rider, Angela Lloyd on Lyrical had a less successful round with 12 penalties on a horse that has not had a show jumping penalty in the past four international competitions. Angela was rueing changing the hind boots on Lyrical for this competition as the mare seemed to be unhappy, kicking out behind as she was jumping
“The straps were elastic and I think they were bothering her – it’s unusual for her to have a fence down in recent times. But that’s life and I’ll change the boots next time!”
Despite that Angela was ‘really rapt with the way she performed’ as ‘I didn’t come here expecting to be in the prizes, it’s only her first season at 2* and she’s finished really well. I just wanted to qualify and we’ve achieved that too, so it’s great’
Thanks to a strong first two phases Angela remained in second place (63.5) just ahead of Diane Gilder on the Australian thoroughbred Your Attorney who finished in third with one rail down in the show jumping (64.1). It was a strong performance, especially considering that Diane combined her riding with being Secretary for the event
“I have enjoyed doing the job and I do think that, if riders don’t start helping at events, we’re going to lose our volunteers. It’s really, really hard to run an event, there’s so much work that goes on in the background, way more than I had even imagined and it’s been a real eye opener. More riders should get involved”
It was a 21st birthday weekend to remember for Jackson Bovill as he celebrated not only the big birthday but also took the win in the CCI2* Young Rider class. His 11 year old warmblood Visionnaire also won the ‘Best Mare’ of the competition and will receive a stallion service to the stallion Ricardo Z, the lucky girl!
Jackson came close to winning this class in 2015 but this year, the last year he is eligible to compete in Young Rider classes, he scooped the win with a beautiful clear show jumping round.
It seems that the big secret to winning is to breathe, says Jackson, it helps a lot!
Clarke Johnstone and Jackson Bovill
Watch Clarke and Jackson produce the only two clear rounds in the CCI2* class in our videos below
