Jaimie Stitchel was the only 3* competitor to complete
The final day of the Lakes and Craters 3 Day Event in Camperdown was of course show jumping day, but before that the competitors had to get through the final trot-up with its usual companions of stress, nerves and anticipation. The Ground Jury was kept fairly busy right from the start with several holds taking place in the Juniors. The Junior Pre-Novice riders were the first to trot up and hence the first on the show jumping course for the day.
Nat Davies had a good weekend winning in the Pre-Novice and the CIC 2*
Emily Rink riding Kirby Park Irish Empress rode an impressive clear show-jumping round to cement her win in that class by over ten penalty points! The next to jump the same course were the Open Pre-Novice classes. An unfortunate rail for Katja Weimann on BP Maximus saw her adding four points to her dressage score and just losing first position to Natalie Davies on Chatswood Design, who crept in to steal the win by just 0.1 of a penalty point. The Pre-Novice 2 winner was Georgia Spangaro riding Rangeview Farlander. Georgia was second after dressage but with her clear showjumping, secured the win for the day.
Georgia Spangaro and Rangeview Farlander negotiate the famous Lakes & Craters water
The Young Rider 1* class was a nail-biter with the top three having less than a rail between them. Riding in reverse order we saw Emily McQueen come into the ring third last and set the standard high with a clear round to finish on a score of 67 penalty points. In second place after cross country and therefore next to ride was Elysha Walles on BP Valentina. Elysha did a great round but unfortunately dropped just one rail. Last to go, and with everyone holding their breath as they went around, was Merryl Dekker on the lovely Drummer. The first part of the double fell then sadly the first rail of the second combination also hit the ground. This left Emily McQueen first, Elysha second and Merryl third, but all three Victorian Young Riders show great promise as riders of the future.
Emily Anker rode BMS Armada, usually ridden by hubby Will, in the Pre Novice. It wasn't the best of weekends for Emily but she is a real trooper and carriedon!
As well as being riders, both Georgia and Emily work with the Wilky Park team helping Will Enzinger and Emily Anker. Emily was riding at the event but Will is still sidelined due to injury but we had a quick chat with him as he kept an eye on proceedings
Will Enzinger talks to Wendy Jeffree
The Open 1* section was lead led by Bill Chrisanis aboard Jaybee Castille. Even though Bill dropped one rail in showjumping his generous lead allowed him to win the blue on the day.
Bill Chrisanis and the very handsome Jaybee Castille
The CCI** saw only two in the show jumping, Yona Lloyd and Rebekah McDougall. Yona had one rail and even though Rebekah had two, she still took first place in that class. Murray Lamperd riding Don Skipcello had been eliminated from this class in a ‘twit’ moment , missing the final fence on cross country, as Murray describes when we spoke to him afterwards but is excited about the future of this horse
Murray Lamperd talks to Wendy Jeffree
Murray and Don Skipcello looking good through the water but missed the last fence on course
The CIC** was also a nail-biter between the top two spots. This class was down to five riders by the showjumping phase and none of these riders secured a clear round. Leading after the cross country was Natalie Davies on Chatswood Captivate and, although Nat had one down, she held on to the led to take the win in that class.
The CCI*** had only one competitor left to jump at this late stage of this competition. Congratulations to Jamie Stitchel who dropped just one rail in the showjumping and took home the prize for this class. It was the first time the showjumping was held on the new top arena and, although it felt to some as though it did not have the same ‘vibe’ as the centre of the oval, most of the riders were happy with the going on the new surface.
Emily McQueen wins the Young Rider 1* class on the new show jumping arena
As always Lakes and Craters is run by a wonderful and friendly committee. They are looking forward to seeing the large number of junior and lower level riders who ventured out to Victoria’s west go up a notch or two by next year, hopefully increasing the numbers in the higher sections.
Thank you to Jen Best for her ever-smiling presence and help with results throughout the event.
Article by Wendy Jeffree and photos by Tazzie Eggins
Click here for our earlier reports from Lakes & Craters
