Saddleworld Dressage Festival off to a Sizzling Start

Competitors were greeted with brilliant sunshine on the first day of the Saddleworld Dressage Festival, a welcome change from previous years! The weather was hot and so was the competition, with several very close contests in some classes and some impressive performances.

Competition started early in the day with the International Animal Health 6yo Young Horse class which saw a win to the well performed buckskin stallion Linbil White Russian and Linda Williams, ahead of Flashazz and Lydia Jackson from Tasmania. 

Victorian Dressage Squad member Sara McDonald and the talented mare Adlanta Rose took out the 4ACES Intermediate I Championship ahead of South Australia’s Heather Currie and Donnerblitz who were making a welcome return to the Dressage Festival after several years.  This was a very close contest with less than 1% point separating the first four horses!

Heath Ryan and Regardez Moi used the Dressage Victoria Intermediate II as a warm up for the Pacific League World Cup Final which starts on Friday with the Grand Prix, and secured a convincing win ahead of South Australian rider Susan Paix and Sheer Etiquette who would have been thrilled with their improvement on last year’s performance here!

The strong showing by South Australian riders on Day 1 continued in the Mitavite Advanced Championship which was won by Ruth Schneeberger and the consistent Flowervale Freereign after placing 2^nd in both tests.   Reserve Champion to Lizzie Wilson-Fellows and Let's Entertain from NSW, who won the 5B on a countback against Ruth, and finished 5^th in the 5C.

Some excellent performances in the Cyberhorse Preliminary Championship saw 70%+ scores awarded to the top 6 horses in the 1B, which was won by Ruth Schneeberger and Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer with an impressive 76.6%. The top 3 horses in the 1C also scored 70%+ and this test was won by the imported gelding WS Donnermann and Caroline Wagner with 73.1%.  The win in the 1C, plus a third in the 1B, secured the Preliminary Championship for WS Donnermann with Reserve to the consistent mare Jaybee Angelina, ridden by Jason Dins from Victoria. 

The final class of the day was the Equestrian Victoria Dressage Clubs 5yo class which was won by Jenny Bray and the chestnut stallion CJP Diamond Dazzler with a good score of 7.58 ahead of NSW’s Amanda Shoobridge and Revelwood Destiny on 7.40.  The top 9 placed horses in this class all achieved qualifying scores for next year’s PSI Dressage & Jumping with the Stars which is a great result.

The Saddleworld Dressage Festival continues until Sunday and incorporates the Victorian Dressage Championships from Preliminary to Grand Prix, the Marcus Oldham Aachen Challenge for riders aged 16 – 25 years, an international Para Equestrian CPEDI 3* and the Pacific League  World Cup Final for selected Grand Prix riders.  With an  extensive trade village for Christmas shopping and “Education Day” seminars on the Sunday there are plenty of things to see and do.  Don’t miss it !

General admission tickets available daily at the entrance gate at a cost of $10 per car or $25 for a 4 day pass, with Saturday night tickets $25 per person for general viewing (non-reserved seating).

 

Enquiries:      Event Director - Caroline Coleby 0432 505 774 dwts@live.com.au or Bryony Giusti  0425 499 477   dwts@equestrianvictoria.com.au

Quick Link

• Day 1 results and more event information available from: www.equestrianvictoriaevents.com.au/DF