Shane Rose and Another Biscuit 'cruising' around the cross country
Shane Rose was very happy with his young chestnut horse Another Biscuit after the Baxter Boots CCI3* cross country phase but at the time we spoke with him he didn’t know that he was in the lead, having come home a lot faster than anyone else!
Shane leads on a score of 66, having added only 1.6 time faults compared to second placed Hazel Shannon on Clifford who had 26.4 time penalties - “I just cruised around him” says Shane in a slight understatement in our interview below. Only four competitors completed the cross country phase of the CCI3*; the overnight leader Tim Boland had a problem at the water jump and totally blamed himself
“He could have jumped it if I’d given him the chance” said Tim ruefully as he walked home on Napoleon “I can’t blame the horse”
Christine Bates and Ned O'Reilly almost landed in Queensland after this take-off
Tim wasn’t the only one as another experienced competitor on a young horse at this level, Christine Bates and Ned O’Reilly also retired here. Ned was jumping like a stag, almost unseating Christine over the first Lynton Lane Crossing at 7ABC, but Christine hung on in there until another ‘green mistake’ when she too decided to walk home, saving Ned for another day.
Shaun Dillon on GV Anzac retired almost at the end of the course coming back across Lynton Lane, leaving just Shane, Hazel, Tania Harding and Tasha Mitchell to contest the show jumping tomorrow.
Swiper managed to negotiate the water by landing on the dry area to the right and not getting his feet too wet!
Shane also had two horses in the Bucas Rugs CCI1* and one of those, Mighty Mouse also had a huge jump over one of the fences, prompting Shane to hope that he could get his front legs over it and land the other side! Mouse survived however and is in fifth place (56.40) in the CIC1* while Swiper, Shane’s other six year old is in third (53.40) after dressage and cross country but he too put in an unusual jump, managing to avoid getting his feet wet at the water jump thanks to a mid-air curving line.
Shane Rose
Emily McQueen and Riddick
Emily McQueen still leads this class however, having had a foot perfect run on Riddick, coming home with nothing added to their dressage score of 45.30. This gives them a very handy lead over the second placed Junior rider Jordyn Faint riding Double S & Evergreen Jackpot on a score of 52.70.
Sophie Adams and Umunga (above) have moved into the lead from third after the dressage in the Rocky Hill Sand & Soil CCI2* thanks to a double clear round when both Katie Roots riding Friday Street and Stuart Tinney riding Queen Mary picked up time penalties. Sophie’s round was pretty speedy and she admits to a moment of nervousness as they hurtled down the hill towards the water but sensibly she sat tight and let Umunga get himself out of trouble with ease
“He’s fifteen years old now and knows his job, having been ridden by Tim (Boland) for so long” says Sophie “Sometimes he gets a bit strong with me – I’ve just got to learn to sit him back up on those downhill runs but I also know he’s clever enough to get out of trouble once we get to the jump”
Stuart Tinney and Queen Mary
As well as being as currently third in this class on Queen Mary, Stuart had a good day on several other horses, moving into second place of the Baxter Boots CIC3* with a dressage score of 40.70, just behind Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliott on 40.10. However, as Tim told us yesterday that he intended to only ride Billy in the dressage and show jumping phases, this will put Stuart into lead as well as being is also ninth in this class on War Hawk and 12th on Annapurna
Katja Weimann and BP Flamboyant
Judy Clark riding Diablito is in third place and Shane Rose in fourth on CP Qualified while Katja Weimann is the top placed Victorian in the class on the very aptly named BP Flamboyant. Very talented but not always the easiest of rides in the dressage, today BP Flamboyant pulled it together for Katja and she intends to keep working on this phase in the lead up to Adelaide
Another Victorian rider, Simon Tainsh kept the top placing in the Coprice CIC2*after the dressage but, in very gentlemanly fashion, helped Amanda Ross try to learn her test as she was entering the arena (literally). It wasn’t quite perfect with Amanda picking up one error of course and the scores were very tight after the dressage – Simon in first riding Vengeance (46.70), Carlene Barton riding APH Merlin (46.90) and Amanda on Dicavalli Diesel (47).
This class also show jumped today but the results after show jumping are not available at the time of writing
Amanda Ross and Dicavalli Diesel
The Roses Cafe CIC1* class also show jumped today and is led by three ladies after the first two phases; Sappho Ransan-Elliott on Tomfoolery R, Niki Rose on Wisteria Lane and Jessica Rae on Rascal with all three remaining on their dressage score
At the end of a long, hot day on cross country, what's the best thing to do? Eat gelati, of course!
