Katharine Van Tuyl and Double J Sunshine
Second place in the Honda NZ CCI3* at the Puhinui International Horse Trials over the weekend saw Katharine Van Tuyl on her mother Robyn’s Double J Sunshine reclaim top spot in the ESNZ Eventing Super League.
Van Tuyl and the relatively inexperienced but promising 8 year old gelding won the 2* class at Puhinui last year, and stepped up to 3* level this spring with great consistency, having won all but the National Eventing Championships at Arran Station, where Clarke Johnstone and Balmoral Sensation took the title.
The only NZ based Eventing High Performance squad member, Johnstone then took Sensation to the Australian International Three Day Event at Adelaide, the only CCI4* event in the southern hemisphere, where they placed third, which took them to the top of the Super League as well as putting them in contention for the Rio Olympics.
Johnstone was not at Puhinui as a result, and Van Tuyl continued to produce solid performances in all three phases, lying fourth after Friday’s dressage, pulling up to second after jumping a clear cross-country round with 8 time penalties on Saturday, and showjumping clear on Sunday with 2 time penalties, which would prove expensive.
The well deserved winner was Virginia Thompson on Star Nouveau, who lay third after the dressage, then produced the only cross-round round inside the time to take the overnight lead, and go into the showjumping with two rails in hand. She needed that cushion, having two fences down and incurring 1 time penalty, but hung on for the biggest win of her career, by the narrow margin of 1.2 penalties.
Andrew Daines was third on the British bred Spring Panorama, owned jointly with Leanne and David Jensen. They moved up from sixth after the dressage to a close third with a clear cross-country round incurring 7.6 time penalties, and had one rail down in the showjumping, but comfortably held their position.
The Puhinui event marks the halfway stage in the year long ESNZ Eventing Super League, with the big events of the autumn season being the CIC3* at the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show in March, the CIC3* at Kihikihi in April, and the NRM CCI3* at Taupo in May.
ESNZ EVENTING SUPER LEAGUE
Standings at halfway:
Katharine Van Tuyl (Palmerston Nth), Double J Sunshine, 144 pts; Clarke Johnstone (Matangi), Balmoral Sensation, 126 pts; Virginia Thompson (Kaukapakapa), Star Nouveau, 102 pts; Andrew Daines (Auckland), Spring Panorama, 48 pts; Giles Gormack (Amberley), Lucero, 42 pts; Samantha Felton (Matangi), Ricker Ridge Escada, 36 pts.
Virginia Caro
