The Heritage Grandstand awaits the crowds
We won’t be experiencing the usual South Australian heat this year but the weather is pleasantly mild and sunny, the jacaranda trees are in full bloom and we are off and running at the 2013 Australian International 3 Day Event in Adelaide.
The cross country course is looking stunning (every fence on the HSBC Adelaide CCI4* course and more about the course coming up soon) and the Heritage Grandstand is looking, well, grand. The recently renovated stand provides a great view of the main arena where the dressage will take place tomorrow and Friday and the final show jumping phase on Sunday.
On the other side of the arena is the VIP Hospitality Marquee at Adelaide, always the place to be seen. This year it fronts on to the Main Arena for the VIP spectators to enjoy a perfect view of the dressage and jumping while on Saturday the marquee will be moved over to Rymill Park. There the VIPs will appreciate their antipasto, gourmet pizza and scrumptious South Australian wines while ooh’ing and aah’íng at the cross country action (not easy with a mouth full of wood fired pizza) along with the many other spectators outside the marquee who gravitate to this perfect picnic spot on Saturday.
However today all eyes were on the elegant horses and riders strutting their stuff for the Ground Jury at the First Horse Inspection, which took place in front of the aforementioned Heritage Grandstand. All horses passed the inspection with Cassie Lowe’s Fairview Metallica in the CCI2* being the only combination asked to trot twice but they were not held.
In the fashion stakes, orange and white seemed to be popular colours and among the Young Riders competing in the 2* there were plenty of short summer skirts and shorts. Quite a few however were dicing with danger with open toed sandals, which don’t always mix well with excitable horses but luckily everyone survived with toes intact. After all the drama of broken riders leading up to this event it would be ironic if another casualty was caused by flimsy footwear at the trot up
In both classes the horses were beautifully turned out and gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. The HSBC Adelaide 4* horse inspection started with the first of Sonja Johnson’s two horses, Belfast Mojito. There is a whole story behind how Belfast Mojito and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison, Sonja’s two horses and Legal Tender, Jess Manson’s 4* horse travelled from Western Australia but we’ll save that for later.
The story of the moment is that Chris Burton will be competing Will Enzinger’s usual ride TS Jamaimo following Will’s unscheduled flying dismount from a horse at Colac Horse Trials last weekend. Poor Will is now nursing three fractures in his leg and a dislocated ankle while Emily McQueen, fellow rider and Will’s groom, has brought TS Jamaimo over to Adelaide for Chris to ride.
“Thank heavens for Emily” says Chris “She is looking after everything for me as I don’t have any idea about what normally happens with the horse”
We caught up with Chris to find out how he felt about his catch ride this week
Tomorrow the dressage phase begins at 10:00am for the 60 Horseland CCI2* riders and the first competitor in the arena will be Shane Rose riding his first horse Shanghai Joe. This 2* class sees some really top combinations ready to burst on the scene including last year’s winner of the Dublin Young Rider National Championship, Jaimie Stichel. A local from Charleston, South Australia, Jaimie will be riding her Irish Sporthorse Image Blue Ice; last year they finished fourth in the CCI 2* here on their dressage score of 58.
Last year Young Rider Isabel Houghton (above) from Victoria was delighted with her thoroughbred chestnut Mohito and was lying in fourth place after the cross country but sadly had to withdraw before show jumping; no doubt she will be looking to emulate that performance here this year but complete the entire event.
From the young riders to some not quite so young but with masses of experience, Stuart Tinney and Heath Ryan have brought their talented young horses Annapurna (half-sister to his 4* mount here, Pluto Mio) and the eight year old grey gelding Aspire R (below)
Another NSW rider Judy Clarke and her chestnut Diablito (below) have had a fantastic year and are a combination likely to be putting in a great performance from the very start. Shane Rose has two horses here at this level – the homebred seven year old Shanghai Joe and eight year old APH Rusalka so, with these and the many other talented combinations in this field, the CCI2* dressage is certainly going to be worth watching tomorrow
