Another Exhibition Eventing Crown for Shane Rose

Shane Rose (pictured) is the undisputed king of Exhibition Eventing after winning the 2012 Be the Influence Equestrian Grand Final at EQUITANA, Melbourne on Friday.

Shane remains undefeated in Exhibition Eventing and his win today with the seven year old gelding Virgil sees him retain the title which he won at last year’s Equestrian Grand Final.

The combination was fifth on the leader board following the dressage phase but Shane remained confident that he could pull off the win. 

“I was in a similar position with Il Vici in last year’s Final so I knew it was possible and I knew that if I could go clear and jump the joker fence then that would put pressure on the leaders.

“I went out and did as good a job as I could and I’m very pleased. Virgil is a super young horse and he did a good job for me,” Shane said. 

Under glorious Melbourne skies Australia’s best event riders went head to head in the 2012 Exhibition Eventing Grand Final.

There was standing room only at the Melbourne Showgrounds with thousands of spectators cramming in to watch Olympians go head to head with some of the sport’s rising stars. 

After the dressage phase it was Beijing silver medallist Megan Jones and Kirby Park Allofasudden - the horse that she very nearly started with at the London Olympic Games - who were the early leaders. The combination were unlucky to knock down two rails in the jumping phase and couldn’t hold on to top spot. They finished in third position.

Victoria’s Seumaus Marwood riding Wild Oats started the final phase in seventh position and put pressure on the leaders when they produced a clear round. The combination finished second.

Exhibition Eventing is an adaptation of traditional eventing that starts with a dressage phase and ends with a combined cross country and jumping component which takes place within an arena. In the jumping phase, riders are presented with a joker fence which is optional to jump and is set much higher than the other fences. If they clear the fence it wipes off four penalties but if they knock it down eight penalties are added to their score.

“It’s a really good concept, the fact that we can bring a sample of the sport to people that otherwise wouldn’t see it is a great way to encourage new fans,” Shane said.

“It’s a really exciting, entertaining and fun format, especially if it gets close towards the end of the competition as it did today. The crowd certainly got behind it and I’m very pleased with how it ended,” he added.  

The Be the Influence Equestrian Grand Final concludes on Saturday with the staging of the CDI-W Freestyle which will crown this year’s dressage champion.

Thursday evening saw Alison Rowland and Bickley Brook Bella take out the Jumping Grand Final.

Story: Equestrian Australia     Photo: Michelle Terlato (EQ Life)