Shane Rose and CP Qualified on their way to a clear round
Only six riders out of the 18 starters managed to achieve clear cross country rounds in the Equestrian NSW CCI3*, with two of those coming from the cross country day leader Shane Rose. As always Shane was laid back about his performance “They were good ponies.” They certainly were with CP Qualified moving ahead of dressage leader, Megan Jones, thanks to a quicker cross country time. Earlier in the class Taurus had galloped around the track in fine style finishing two seconds outside the optimum time of 10 minutes four seconds. This was the fastest time of the day and must have made up in some way for their disappointing dressage test yesterday. The pair moved up from seventh after dressage to finish the day in third place. Megan was still pleased with her performance, although a circle between fences four and five, the Offset Ditch fences undoubtedly cost her the overnight lead.
Enjoy a few moments of Shane and CP Qualified as they come through the first water complex.
There were a few surprise problems seen from various riders including Craig Barrett and Sandhills Brillaire who picked up 20 penalties at the ‘Offset Ditch’ and is now lying eighth. Sonja Johnson suffered problems on both of her horses, while Clarke Johnstone and Balmoral Sensation had a fall at the first water complex.
Shane and CP Qualified go into show jumping day with a fence in hand over Megan and Flowervale Maserati but with less than a mark between Megan and Shane’s second horse, Taurus, tomorrow should prove to an exciting day.
In the Tarraleah Performance Horses & Mitavite Young Rider CCI2* Gabrielle Pither is leading the class with Max Almighty ahead of Teegan Ashby and Rochingham No Reason. Gabrielle is a young rider we don’t really know much about but we will endeavor to catch up with her tomorrow to find out more.
Gabrielle Pither and Max Almighty jump the Horsezone drop
Tim Boland and Napoleon lost their overnight lead after picking up 20 penalties on course, while second after dressage Warren Lamperd collected 40 penalties.
Lauren Balcomb and Guido Hatzis make their way round the tough 1* track cross country
In the Horsepower & IRT Junior CCI* Lauren Balcomb and Guido Hatzis held onto their dressage lead going clear and under the time over what proved to be a tricky course for many one star riders. Eight of the 27 starters walked home after being eliminated or choosing to retire while five other picked up penalties for refusals. There was no doubt that the Stuart Tinney designed one and two star courses were technical, with several skinny fences following big bold fences, which required both horse and rider to be precise in their approach.
Both second and third placed Christine Bates and Carlene Barton remained in those dressage placings after cross country, going clear and under time. “I was very happy,” said Christine of her ride on Dougal O’Reilly while Carlene was not only happy with her performance but also the performance of her 14 year old daughter, Golly, (Olivia) who also went clear around the CCI* track. “Golly rode really well and I’m a very proud mum.”
Judy Clarke and Diablito on flying form
The CIC classes completed their event today with Judy Clarke the very happy winner of the CIC2* riding Diablito. “I went out there like a woman possessed,” admitted Judy “but I needed to do that after my run out at Adelaide last year.”
Debbie caught up Judy after cross country:
Shane Rose was not only happy to finish second in the CIC2* on the stallion Contenda, he was delighted to be announced as the winner of the Alltech Equine Advantage series. The prize for this series was a trip to this year’s Alltech World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France and although we’re sure Shane would be hoping to get a spot on the WEG team he was quick to say that maybe the prize could go to his wife, Niki, or the owners of the horse. We’ll bring you more about the Alltech Equine Advantage series in an upcoming article.
Elizabeth Crosato riding her own much loved Koyuna Bandit finished 12th in the CIC2* and took out the Mitavite Young Rider title. “I’m pretty happy and so lucky to have such a great horse to ride,” said Elizabeth, who has only fairly recently made the move up to 2* level.
Listen to the interview we did with Elizabeth below:
Kirby Park Impress looks well and happy after his great CIC* performance
In the Visy CIC* Megan Jones led the class from start to finish riding Kirby Park Impress, adding just four penalties from show jumping to her dressage score of 47.2. For spectators the commentary got a little confusing because as Megan was out on course riding KP Impress so was junior rider Emily Rink who was riding Kirby Park Irish Empress! Sadly Emily and Empress didn’t enjoy such a good time as Megan, but prior to riding Empress Emily had clocked up a good round on Heart of Hearts, finishing eighth overall in the class and winning the Junior IRT sponsored section.
Second behind Megan Jones was Felicity Cribb riding her own talented stallion Feldale Regardless R. We caught up with Felicity, who is always so good to enjoy a laugh with, to ask her why she hadn’t won the class!
With the trot up starting at 7.30am and show jumping quickly following it's going to be another big day and we can't wait to bring you the final results tomorrow night!
