Murray and Under the Clocks
Murray Lamperd looked hot but sounded as cool as a cucumber when I spoke to him after his cross country ride in the Pakenham Produce CIC 3* at Tonimbuk. The schedule had been changed so that the 3* riders started at 8am to avoid the heat and Murray and Under the Clocks cruised around the course but Murray is trying to keep to the plan leading up to Badminton Horse Trials
Interview with Murray LamperdAnother happy rider was Will Enzinger who said that he was delighted with both of his rides and that Ruban Son “Really felt like a 3* horse today, he felt fabulous”. However, although Will had moved up to second and third place, Ruban Son was still 20.7 penalties behind Murray and Under the Clocks going into the show jumping later in the day. Murray caused everyone near heart failure by having four rails and one time fault but he hung on to the lead on 70.4 ahead of Will and Ruban Son on 78.1 and Will also in third on TS Jamaimo (79.5). Seumas Marwood jumped a lovely clear round, as you would expect (no pressure Seumas), on the mare Wild Oats to take fourth place
Not just a good weekend at the office - Will even got a new teddy bear too (although probably for new baby son Ethan)
The Alltech CIC 1* riders were the second on the cross country and were lucky enough to still have reasonably overcast conditions. This class is the first of the inaugural Alltech Equine Advantage Eventing Series and six riders sported the Alltech colours; Natalie Davies, Andrew Heseltine, Katja Weimann, Claire McDermott, Chris Height and Samantha Cesnik. The overnight leader in this class, Will Enzinger, rode a clear round on cross country with 6.4 time faults and a double clear show jumping round round to hold the lead with Jonathan McLean riding Brinking Fitzwilliam in second and Rohan Luxmoore riding Bells n Whistles in third.
Natalie and Chatswood Captivate in their Alltech Equine Advantage Eventing Series gear
The fourth place getter Natalie Davies riding Chatswood Captivate and sixth placegetter Katja Weimann riding BP Escapade doubled their prize money thanks to Alltech and gained important points towards the final in 2014 at Sydney International Horse Trials. Entries are still open for the Series which now moves on to the Queensland International 3 Day Event at Warwick from 21st – 24th March.
Katja also did well in Pakenham Produce CIC 2*. The overnight leader, she held the spot to win the class and when second placed Jack Hayden had a problem at the water, Edith Kane moved up to take his spot with just one rail between the two local girls. Unfortunately Edith had three rails and another well known local rider and Sydney Olympian, Amanda Ross, pipped her into second place riding William Wordsworth with an elegant clear round show jumping
Rob Palm was having a fairly quiet weekend without his 3 Star horse Koko Black but still managed to take out the Pre Novice A on Parklands Oakley and the Intro C on Belcam Sir Dior (who is for sale, in case you’re looking for a very attractive smaller horse). The Pre Novice B was won by Bill Chrisanis on Jaybee Castille (below) with Shannon Cattlin on another of Bev Edwards’ Jaybee horses, Jaybee Carillion in second place, reversing their positions from Geelong Horse trials recently.
We mentioned Andrew Heseltine and Isle of Troy in our Saturday report and he came through, winning the Intro A. Andrew was also riding an interesting horse in the Alltech CIC 1*called Tipungwuti. Racing fans may recognise the name; he was sold as a yearling for a record breaking $320,000 at the 2005 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale as a son of Fusaichi Pegasus. Trained by Mark Cavanagh, he went on to win over $200,000 prize money but somehow now has ended up as an eventer. Andrew got him in 2009 but the horse missed a season through injury and Andrew was busy finishing school but this nine year old off the track thoroughbred is now hopefully ready to move up in the eventing world although today was not his day
Andrew and Tipungwuti in the Altech CIC 1*
The poor old Intro and Prelim riders in the afternoon bore the brunt of the heat (which is set to continue for another six days here in Victoria, sigh). At about 4pm a sudden shower lifted everyone but it wasn’t even enough to dampen the dust and it quickly passed, as has another season opener at Tonimbuk Horse Trials. The action now moves on to nearby Wandin Park in the Victorian Yarra Valley; let’s hope for a little rain before then ...............
CLICK HERE for Saturday photo gallery
CLICK HERE for Sunday photo gallery
