Heath Ryan and Aspire R Win the International Speedcheck CCI2* at the Quirindi 3DE

Heath Ryan maintained his lead with the energetic Aspire R (Photograph:Furdography)

 The whole event was a wonderful experience and the next time this talented committee run a long format 3DE riders are encouraged to attend, it was worth it! 

Event organisers at Quirindi, headed by Daryl and Vicki Burges who between them have unfathomable years of Eventing knowledge, have provided a professional 3DE experience for riders. The Ground Committee accepted all horses presented today at the first trot up before the dressage began at the Quirindi Show Grounds in the New England region of NSW.

Jumping is done and the winners are decided....

With the final horse inspection over, and all horses presented accepted, the final phase of competition began at the Quirindi 3DE today. The show jumping tracks built by Greg Backhouse had a big effect on the final places in the star classes and jumping in reverse order had the dual effect of putting pressure on the leaders to jump clear and gave the crowd an exciting finish to watch after three days of tough competition in the long format event.

Heath Ryan was the first into the arena for the International Speed Check CCI2* class on his second ride, 6th placed Southern Cross Nova. It was a careful round over the Greg Backhouse designed course, paying off with no rails falling seeing Nova finish with 78.90 penalties in 5th place. Junior rider Emily Hann followed Heath into the arena and repeated his performance with a clear round on Starburst, a great end to her weekend as one of only two clear show jumping rounds in the class, finishing with 86.60 penalties in 7th place. Young Rider Hazel Shannon had just one rail on Clifford to finish in 4th with 74.20 penalties. Junior Queenslander Madison Simpson, knocked 4 rails with Major James, adding 12 to her score, finishing with 79.50 penalties in 6th place. Blair Richardson had two fall and added a time fault to his score, finishing with 71.20 in 3rd place. Second placed Annabel Armstrong was less than a rail behind leading horse Aspire ridden by Heath, She needed to get Tahoe round clear to keep the pressure on, but her fast cross country round the previous day seemed to leave Tahoe a bit flat and Annabel dropped 4 rails finishing with 65.50 penalties, giving Heath plenty of room for error on Aspire R. The gorgeous grey showed a bit of greenness on the tough track and dropped two rails, but Heath's lead was enough to take victory, finishing with 58.90 penalties.

The International Speedcheck CCI1* class was tight at the top and again the pressure had rails fall in the final few riders until the classy Judith Clarke entered the arena with Diablito. She left everything up and finished on her impressive dressage score of 35.80. Local Junior Isabelle Bowditch-McIntyre from Willow Tree who was second overnight dropped into third with Grandios and Sam Lyle snuck into second place with Kaluna Grace.

The Over The Top Equipment CCN105 class had less trouble with the Backhouse track, and the top four remained unchanged. Terri Kolb from QLD who came to the New England for the Tamworth Winter Show Jumping Festival there weeks ago and stayed to compete at the Tamworth International Eventing ODE last weekend and the Quirindi 3DE this weekend, finished on her dressage score. The lovely Anamazze jumped everything cleanly and made Terri's trip to the New England very worthwhile.

The overnight leader in the Mitavite CCN95 class, Cheryl Grant knew the penalties were close and the next two riders, both juniors, had jumped clear but she gave her lovely young Danson Renegade a great ride going clear to win the class. Rosanna Cohen and The Investigator were 2nd and Justine Streater was 3rd with Warrego Marco Polo.

Emma Bishop was the overnight leader with her third ride CP Figaro in the Bundella and Boonoona CCN80 class. She was less than a rail in front of Jason Andrews and Ballahowe Connor who left them all up to finish on their dressage score of 51.60 penalties. A rail fell for Emma moving her down into second place and giving victory to Jason. Emma's second horse CP Rosie jumped clear earlier in the class finishing in third.

The weekend was a complete success, many riders thanking the event directors for giving them the opportunity to ride in a long format 3DE with the vet checks, trot ups, horse inspections, holding box, medical forms and FEI rules. Despite being a professionally run event, the atmosphere was relaxed and riders felt welcome to talk about rules with the Ground Jury, something that is often daunting at the larger events. The elite riders at the event were exemplary role models for the younger riders, being well dressed at trot ups (special mention goes to Sam Lyle (Sutton Forest) for his stylish suit at the final trot up), providing friendly advice for others in the warm ups, grooming for their protégés and speaking to officials at all times with respect. The whole event was a wonderful experience and the next time this talented committee run a long format 3DE riders are encouraged to attend, it was worth it!

The Horses have travelled across the country...

Heath Ryan and Aspire R remain the leaders of the International Speedcheck CCI2*. Heath had a nearly perfect cross country ride adding just 1.6 time faults to his dressage score. The top two places are very close, with Annabel Armstrong and Tahoe, the only combination to finish cross country with zero penalties, just 2.6 penalties behind Heath. Blair Richardson moved up from 5th into 3rd place but the leaders need to knock a few rails for him to take the victory. The 2* class will show jump at approximately 3pm on Sunday.

Judith Clarke from Werombi was one of 11 1* riders to add nothing to their dressage score on the cross country, maintaining her overnight lead with Diablito. Local junior rider Isabelle Bowditch-McIntyre from Willow Tree is in second place with Grandios followed by Amy Godsall and Jack Murphy from Capalaba in QLD.

The top 6 places in the CCN105 remained unchanged with most riders posting perfect scores across the country. Terri Kolb from QLD and Anamazze held on to top spot, less than a rail ahead of the next 4 riders. Thea Horsley and Stirling Thames a junior rider from Mittagong is in second and another junior, Justine Streater and Miss Florentine from Emundi in Qld are in third.

Only nine riders added zero penalties to their dressage score in the CCN95 cross country. Tamworth rider Cheryl Grant kept first place with a clear cross country round on the lovely Danson Renegade. Close on her heels is Junior Rosanna Cohen from Somersby riding The Investigator and in third is Justine Streater riding Warrego marco Polo.

Emma Bishop from Raymond Terrace added nothing to her dressage score to keep the lead but a few tough questions on the CCN80 cross country course saw plenty of changes to the rest of the places. Jason Andrews from Armidale moved from 5th into second place with his clear ride on Ballahowe-Connor. Emma Bishop moved from 8th on her second ride CP Rosie into 3rd.

Dressage Day is Done.....

Heath Ryan from Heatherbrae near Newcastle leads the International Speedcheck CCI2* with Aspire R, the last horse to enter the arena. Judges Helen Christie, Abby Croyston and Ross Green scored Aspire R with an average of 67.16% giving them just 49.30 penalties to take with them in the cross country phase tomorrow.

Judith Clarke and Diablito lead the CCI1*.

Terri Kolb and Anamazze lead the Over The Top Equipment CCN105

Cheryl Grant and Dansan Renegade lead the Mitavite CCN95

Emma Bishop and CP Figaro lead the Bundella and Boonoona CCN80

Cross Country begins with the CCN80 class at 9:30am on Saturday. Emma Bishop and CP Rosie, who are currently in 8th place will be the first horse on course. The CCI2* begins at approximately 1:30pm.

On Sunday all classes will show jump, in reverse order, ensuring an exciting finish to the competition.

By: Rachel Smith/Eventing NSW

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