Shane Rose and his 10 year old warmblood gelding Virgil jumped into the history books with their clear round at the Australian International 3 Day Event to secure second place behind Shane's winning horse CP Qualified
In our previous articles we mentioned that Mary KIng has also done a 'one-two' at CCI4* level (Rolex Kentucky 2011) and since then we've discovered that Ian Stark also placed first and second at Badminton in 1988 riding Glenburnie and Sir Wattie (thanks to Alison Duthie for that info - she should know as she was grooming for Ian at the time! "It was my first proper 3 Day Event" says Ali "And I'll never forget it!")
Virgil was bred by Michelle Hasibar, who is still one of the owners with Brett Jones and Shane, and his distinctive jumping style comes from his World Cup show jumping sire Vivant. Ridden by Chris Chugg, Vivant represented Australia at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and Virgil has certainly inherited his father's jumping genes
After a year out of competition in 2014, Virgil has left an impression on Australian eventing this year with wins in the CIC3* at Camden and Canberra (with Shane being sidelined by injury for several months inbetween), fourth at Goulburn in the CIC3* NSW State Championships and second in the CCI4* in Adelaide
Definitely one to watch for Rio, so why not watch him now?
