Australian Showjumping Championships Kick Off Today!

The 52^nd annual Australian Showjumping Championships begin today at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre in Victoria.

260 riders and 523 horses from across Australia have converged on Australia’s most southern mainland state to contest the four day event which will crown the Junior, Young Rider and Senior Australian Champion as well as Australian Speed Champion.

Not since 1995 has the Melbourne region hosted the Australian Showjumping Championships and Olympian Gavin Chester, a member of this year’s organising committee, says he’s pleased to see the event being staged in Victoria.   

“We have a great contingent of riders across our state, and it’s exciting to be able to offer them one of the few National events right here in their backyard,” he said.

Fresh from a three month stint at Gilbert Bockmann’s stables in Germany which he attended as a recipient of an EA training scholarship, Tom McDermott will be back in action this weekend and is looking forward to competing again on home soil.

“The Australian Showjumping Champs is my first big event since arriving home and it's looking fantastic. After the Championships I'll be focusing on the World Cups, with Melbourne the next of this series. I am really grateful to be able to do what I do,” he said.

2011 Young Rider Champion Evie Buller (Yalambi’s Landor) is this year competing in the senior category and as the current leader of the Australian league of the FEI World Cup Jumping Series, the 18 year is a strong chance of taking home the title. Evie is pictured after her FEI World Cup Qualifier win at the Royal Queensland Show 2012.

Expect Evie’s main competition to come from the likes of Tim Clarke and Caltango (VIC), Jamie Kermond and Valhalla (NSW), David Dobson and AS Akon (WA), Alison Rowland and Bickley Brook Bella (WA) and Clem Smith and Florina (QLD).

International Course Designer Franz Mahl of Austria has been enlisted to design a range of courses that will challenge even the most experienced of riders. Madl recently built the 4* course in Linz (AUT) which was a nomination event for Australian combinations vying for a position on the Australian Olympic team.

With free entry on all three qualifying days and a minimal $10 per vehicle entry fee for finals day on Sunday, the Australian Show Jumping Championships promises to provide a spectacle that is high on excitement and low on cost. As well as four full days of elite competition spectators will find a food village and trade stand with over 40 stalls.

Story: Michelle Cook/EA  Photo: JMS Photography

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