Shane and Virgil please the crowd at Equitana
When I spoke to Shane Rose before the Grand Final of the Exhibition Eventing at Equitana he said he “always tries to win”. Today he tried and won..... again.
Many of the events at Equitana are designed to be crowd pleasers or introduce equestrian enthusiasts to a new sport. Earlier in the day the crowd watched the fun of Jump and Drive which incorporated elements of eventing, show jumping and carriage driving; later the Be the Influence Grand Final Exhibition Eventing showcased short format eventing in the shape of Exhibition Eventing.
As Shane Rose explains in the chat we had prior to the final
“Exhibition Eventing is a bit like 20/20 cricket – a shorter version with the same elements but the true test is at the three day event where you have to do the highest level of each discipline”
CLICK HERE to hear the interview with Shane
John Twomey and Wade Equine Highly Recommended
Later in the afternoon a crowd gathered to watch the dressage phase of the Exhibition Eventing in the outdoor TuffRock Arena. The riders were all well known eventers who had either won qualifying rounds or had been awarded ‘wild cards’ so that the crowd could have the fun of watching some top class riders such as Olympic medallists Megan Jones, Stuart Tinney and Shane Rose along with top Victorian eventers Will Enzinger, Katja Weimann, Seumas Marwood, Amanda Ross and Rob Palm, Australians Paul Tapner and Sam Griffiths visiting from their UK base and NSW based riders Rachael Lee and John Twomey.
Some rode their own horses, some rode ‘ catch rides’ and some rode horses they are taking to Australia’s biggest event – the 4* Australian International 3 Day Event next week, so the field was varied and interesting.
Another Olympic medallist, Wendy Schaeffer was in crowd and shared her thoughts with us on the dressage phase
CLICK HERE to hear Wendy Schaeffer talk about the dressage
Megan and KP Allofasudden strut their stuff in the dressage
Megan Jones emerged the clear winner of the dressage which, as Wendy points out, proved challenging in the noisy open arena. The spectators were treated to Hamish Cargill’s incisive commentary which included some classic comments as the afternoon wore on. Hamish interviewed some of the riders as they exited the arena – he asked John Twomey what he thought of his test, reminding him that the judges were still currently marking his test and could hear his remarks. John aptly replied that he thought it was a very good test!
Hamish offered the thought that, for riders, eventing dressage is “like a band aid – you just want to get it off” and it seemed that the spectators agreed as an even larger crowd started to gather after the dressage had finished, to watch the jumping.
The course, designed by Wayne Copping, combined show jumps of 1.20m with 2* level cross country fences and included a 1.45m Joker fence which was to prove influential. As the riders walked the course, Mary King and Hamish checked it out for the spectators’ benefit and Mary admitted that, if she were riding Imperial Cavalier, she would be tempted to go for the Joker fence.
She also admitted to having spent some time exploring Rob Palm’s new air vest which feels ‘ lovely and soft’ – unfortunately, this may have affected Rob’s jumping performance as he had a refusal, two fences down and forgot to cross the finish line (Mary may consider taking this tack with Andrew Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt before their next big event where she is competing against them)
Paul Tapner came in for a bit of Hamish’s ribbing as the ‘Red Baron’ and ‘Champion Arm Flapper’. Paul responded by showing how well he could flap his arms riding to a fence on a horse he had only ridden once before. Sam Griffiths also showed his dexterity by riding Will Enzinger’s Ruban Son; a horse he had first sat on that morning.
Seumas and Wild Oats were first to clear the Joker
The Joker was definitely the bogey fence for the first few riders who attempted it then suddenly, like the proverbial bus, several consecutive riders cleared the 1.45m fence and broke the drought. Seumas Marwood was the first on the super mare by Contango II, Wild Oats. Seumas has been concentrating on this horse’s pure dressage and showjumping recently and it showed as she jumped a fast but clear round with ease.
John Twomey then also cleared the Joker but had the last fence down and, like Rob Palm, forgot the small detail of going through the finish flags (had Mary also been investigating his air vest?)
Son of Vivant, Virgil showing his style
Shane Rose then entered the arena and showed that his horse Virgil had inherited his sire’s show jumping genes with another clear round which included the Joker. Amanda Ross and William Wordsworth then jumped, clearing the Joker but they had the third fence down which Hamish contributed to the fact that “Amanda was smiling too much”
Will Enzinger and Mousetrap also cleared the Joker (Mousetrap may be 19 years old but has done a fair bit of show jumping in his time) but sadly had fences 10 and 11 down.
The last combination in, Megan and Kirby Park Allofasudden also fell prey to the last two fences but jumped the Joker with ease. At this point no-one in the crowd (or the media room) could work out the time faults and other complicated maths so it was a few moments before the grand calculation was finalised and Shane was once again declared the winner of the Exhibition Eventing Grand Final.
Top 6 Results
1st: Shane Rose and Virgil
2nd: Seumas Marwood and Wild Oats
3rd: Megan Jones and Kirby Park Allofasudden
4th: John Twomey and Wade Equine Highly Recommended
5th: Amanda Ross and William Wordsworth
6th: Will Enzinger and Mousetrap
Another crowd pleaser, Clayton Fredericks showed he has what it takes - gangnam style
