John Twomey & Highly Recommended, over the ditch palisade
The Tamworth International Eventing first event at AELEC has been run and won and almost without everyone had a fantastic weekend. Course Designer Tich Massey from New Zealand was smiling at the end of today's cross country and biggest hitch of the day was that the ground was a bit soft due to some recent rain but overall performances on cross country weren't affected.
Today I did take some time to watch the three star riders around the picturesque track, with well dressed fences and came into the indoor to watch the finale of the three star. On cross country two of the starters didn't complete but the biggest challenge for the combinations was the time and when John Twomey clocked up the fastest round he moved him up from 7th after dressage to lead going into the show jumping.
George Sheridan & Siempre, over the pipes the biggest fence on course, looks massive from here.
John was 13 seconds over time and looked to be smoking around the course, the slowest was Charlotte Price on Clifton Tasman who picked up 42.4 time penalties (that's 106 seconds over time). Overnight leader Keira Byrnes picked up 21.6 time, which surprised Kiera as she thought they were flying around course. Fox Hill is an experienced mount who is now 17 and still in fine form. I saw him a few minutes after finishing cross country and he barely had raised his respiration rate.
The three star jumping was quite eventful with only Belinda Isbister and winner John Twomey managing a double clear. There were a few three and four rails mixed in so the leaderboard changed quite significantly. By the time John entered the ring he had more than three rails up his sleeve but he steered Highly Recommended to a flawless round to make it their second win in two weeks. This pair is on track to take on Adelaide at the end of the year.
In the 'most important classes', the Intro EvA80 and Prelim EvA95, there wasnt a lot of movement at the top.
Tracey Boyle and Linda, winners of the Intro EvA80 Div 1 class
Intro EvA80 Div1
1. Tracey Boyle and Linda won on their dressage score of 40.9, I caught up with Tracey affter cross country and we will bring you that interview in the next few days.
2. Brianne Heffernan, Vienna Surprise 43.6
3. Megan Drennan, Rodeo Romeo, 45
Intro EvA80 Div 2 (Jnr)
1. Lucy Herbert, Black Pepper, on their dressage score of 53.9
2. Samantha Dnee, Fox Soup 57.5
3. Emma Bickley, Chicken Run 60.5
I caught up with Lucy and Emma after cross country also and will bring you those intereviews later.
Lucy Herbert and Black Pepper, winners of the Intro EvA80 Div 2 class.
Prelim EvA95 Div 1
1. Michelle (Skip) Carney on her dressage score of 45.6
2. Cheryl Grant, Danson Renegade, 49.0
3. Scott Simpson, APH Marina, 54.0
Prelim EvA95 Div 2
1. Chelsea Balcomb, Valley King again on her dressage score of 52.8
2. Joanne Perrottet, Oscar, 55.6
3. Jessica Rae, Zeal, 58.8
Again I am excited that we can celebrate our Introductory and Preliminary riders, they are the backbone of our sport and we often get so caught up in the top end of town that we forget those who help to fund our sport. Most of them are weekend warriors but they are critical to the sport in so many ways.
Congratulations to everyone who competed at Tamworth, to the wonderful committee and their dedicated volunteers, I hope you all give yourselves a great big pat on the back. TIE had the polish of an event that had been around for many years, you had to keep reminding yourself that this is a brand new event. I know I will be back and for those riders who didnt make the long trek up the New England Highway, you missed out on a fantastic event. I hope to see you there next time.
The ever smiling John Twomey (I'm sure he was smiling as I took this photo) jumps a faultless round to win the CIC3* class
To check out some photos from TIE's cross countrty day click here
For photos from day one click here
John Lechner (ESJ)
