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The Ultimate Eventing Experience

Published on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in General

After Adelaide Hills propped and unseated Christine Bates over the last showjumping fence, she managed to say on board until after the finish before tumbling into the mud, claiming a dramatic victory in the Wyong Equine Clinic 3* Class!

(Photo: www.furdography.com.au)

 

Wonderful weather, huge crowds and a fantastic venue all supported the huge numbers at the Midweek and Weekend one day events in Sydney. The course was demanding, but interesting and resulted in an amusing but exciting finish to the main 3* class where Vice President Christine Bates narrowly beat President Tim Boland by 0.1 penalties and took a spectacular dive after the last fence to come up with mud on her face but the big cheque! 

The Sydney @ SIEC Eventing team was keen to provide riders with the ultimate Eventing experience at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre and they certainly didn't disappoint. At the close of entries huge numbers were already on the draw with many more begging to be added. The logistics of the increased numbers were a test of the organisational skills of all involved but the overall success of the week of double events showed that anything is possible.

The week began on Wednesday 27 July when nearly three hundred riders completed their dressage phase from Newcomer to 2*. Emma Armstrong and Cassilis Park Pendragon took the lead in the Agnes Banks Equine Clinic CNC 2* with a test scoring 64.82%. She added nothing to her score with a clear cross country round but one rail in the show jumping was enough to hand the lead to Queenslander Kevin McNab and Feldale Mouse. Event President Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliot were third, Olympic Representative Rebel Morrow and Hillview Enviable were 4th and Junior rider Madeline Wilson and Levi Red Jeans were 5th.

Kevin McNab also won the Mitavite 1* Class on Casperelli moving up from 3rd after dressage when leader Niki Rose hand time faults on the cross country with Wisteria Lane. Sophie Adams and Mercator Du Ry were 2nd, Niki finishing in 3rd.

Event Vice President, Christine Bates, led from start to finish in the Petbarn Pre Novice on CP Qualified. Tim Boland was 2nd with Umunga, moving up from 5th after dressage with a clear cross country round. Jade Findlay on the lovely young Oaks Sporthorse mare Oaks Cordelia was 3rd.

Just 12 riders in the midweek Prelim classes were clear cross country, with time difficult to make. Junior Sheridan Sullivan led from start to finish in the Bates Equestrian Prelim A class, adding nothing to her dressage score. Sandy Lucas, who had truck dramas on her way to the event but still managed to take the lead after dressage with Ebony Sky, knocked a rail in the show jumping to give first place to Tallara Barwick and Salamanca who had clear jumping rounds.

Brett Davey won the Main Event Intro A class with Indy and Cassie Lowe won the Bimbadeen Intro B Class with Homeward Bound. Both riders led from start to finish adding nothing to their dressage scores, as did Cheryl Grant in the Dig-It Earthworks Newcomers class on Danson Renegade.

With just Friday to recover from one big event, the committee prepared for the Weekend. With close to five hundred riders on the draw the scheduling was worked out to the last second. Saturday saw the completion of all the dressage phases, the Intro cross country and the Prelim and 1* Show Jumping.

Christine Bates was the overnight leader in the Wyong Equine Clinic 3* class on Adelaide Hill with a score of 72.12% in the dressage. Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliot were just 1.5 penalties behind them and 1.7 penalties ahead of Christine and her second ride Delago. Just 14.7 penalties separated the top ten as they entered the cross country phase. Ninth placed George Sheridan was the only rider to add nothing to their dressage score, navigating the course designed by Ewan Kellet perfectly and moving up to 2nd place on Woznme. Christine hung onto first spot with less than a rail in hand into the show jumping.

John Vallance designed an excellent three star track that put pressure on the competitors to ride forward with accuracy. Jumping in reverse order provided an exciting afternoon for the large crowd on the hill. Tim Boland entered the ring in third place on GV Billy Elliot with 12.8 cross country time penalties added to his dressage score of 43.3. His clear round thrilled the crowds and kept the pressure on the two remaining riders as George Sheridan entered the arena. A misjudgement at the first part of the triple saw Woznme stop at C, depositing George on the ground with the bridle in his hand. Woznme stood quietly waiting to be caught and George left the arena on foot as Christine and Adelaide Hill made their way to the judges' box. When an early rail fell the crowds excitement increased. All the remaining rails stayed up and all looked good for the victory until the last fence when Adelaide Hill propped and unseated Christine over the fence. Christine managed to stay on until after the finish before tumbling in the mud, claiming a dramatic victory in the Wyong Equine Clinic 3* Class. Tim was second and Lauren Balcomb was third on Kootamootoo moving up from 6th after dressage. Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio were 4th and Christine was 5th on her second ride Delago who knocked 4 rails to move down from 3rd.

Shane Rose dominated the Mitavite 2* Class taking 1st and 2nd with double clears on both Statford Neo and Il Vici. Zach Stanton and Sevon Mossimo were leading after the dressage but withdrew from the show jumping phase after a stop on the cross country moved them out of contention. Nikki Richardson had just 2 time penalties on the cross country but Knightrider knocked 4 rails to move down to 9th. Kevin McNab finished in 3rd with Kelecyn Cognac and Rebel Morrow was 4th with Cavallo Park Apollo. Junior rider Isabel English rode the midweek 2* winner Feldale Mouse into 5th place and Tara Sheridan rounded out the placings with 6th on It's A miracle.

Sophie Adams bettered her midweek result by one place to win the Bates Equestrian 1* Class (ahead of all the boys) on Mercator Du Ry adding just 0.8 time penalties to her score on the cross country. She and Tim Boland were equal leaders after dressage but he knocked a rail on Umunga to give Sophie victory. The Midweek winner Kevin McNab was third with Casperelli with Tim in 4th with his second ride Untouchable. Aaron Moye was the fastest cross country on Tiger Moth, finishing in 5th and Shane Rose on Virgil was 6th.

Christine Bates and CP Qualified doubled up with a second win in the Petbarn Pre Novice A class again leading from start to finish. Lauren Balcomb improved her position from the mid week to finish in 2nd with Double Dare and Donna Smith was third on Tall Jan. The Australian Event Horse Centre Pre Novice B Class was won by Soigne Jackson and Collateral Damage who finished on their dressage score of 44.1 penalties. Toni Webb on Montango was 2nd and Nikki Richardson on Rudolph was 3rd.

Very close scores in the Prelim classes again meant time on cross country and rails in the show jumping played an important role in the final placings. Overnight leader in the Main Event Prelim A class Candace Cvetkoic dropped to rails with WP Midnight Oil moving down to finish 4th. Margaret Ferguson on Heatherton Park Chemistry was first and Blair Richardson on Elmo was 2nd. The Prelim B class saw the dressage leader Matthew Constance dropped into 21st place with time and rails. Donna Woods on BJK Caspian added nothing to her dressage score moving from 5th to first and junior rider Clare Anderson on Sober Up kept her 2nd place. In the Horseland Prelim C there was a similar outcome. Sam Fasher added nothing to his fifth placed dressage score to move from 5th into first. Melissa Simpson finished in 2nd with Jack the Rippa and Blair Richardson on My Special Obsession was 3rd.

Tanya Schmidt led the Edinburgh Horse Rugs Intro A class into the show jumping phase, adding nothing to her dressage score on Spice in the cross country. Two rails moved them to 4th. Junior rider Madeline Wilson won the class on Riverside Arthur followed by another two juniors, Ashleigh Wiseman on Jazzier that Jazz in 2nd and Tamisn Broster on PPP Polar Pops in 3rd.

In the Bimbadeen Park Intro B Class the dressage leader Stephanie Collins had a number of refusals on the cross country with Dr Jettison leaving first place open for Toni Webb and Sally. Junior rider Katelyn Doak was 2nd with Pacific Prophet, their 1.6 time faults on the cross country costing her first place.

Brett Davey led the Europa Saddlery Intro C class into the show jumping by knocked 6 rails with Southern Diamonetta to finish in 12th place. Tara Sheridan was the winner of the class with Elansu Jewels Hollywood and fellow junior rider Charlotte Waugh came 2nd with La Diva.

The Dig-It Newcomers Class was won by Linda Beeney and PL Harvard Days who improved on their 2nd place in the midweek ode. Linda added nothing to her amazing dressage score of 39.8 penalties coming well within the time allowed on cross country and left all the rails up in the show jumping. Mandy Bale on Crystal Hill Classic Lady were 2nd and Mitchell Peulic on Parisian Affair were 3rd. Linda and a number of other newcomer and intro riders recently participated in the Camden Clinic held by Eventing NSW and the Wayne Roycroft clinic organised by Northside Riding Club and were grateful for these valuable learning opportunities before competing at the ODE.

The Organising committee would like to thank the sponsors of the event for helping them to provide excellent prizes and prize money, enticing some of Australia's best riders, including a number of interstate riders, to attend the events.

Another huge thank you goes to all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to make the event happen. From just one hour to the whole week any help was greatly appreciated. A few volunteers deseve special mention. Long time volunteers Jim and Babs McSweeney who have been helping run equestrian events since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games were tireless in their efforts all week to feed and support the Show Jumping crew who are often forgotten down at the jumping ring. The smiling Liz was always on hand in the office to help anyone who walked through the door. John Rose baked, cooked, prepared and served meal after meal to feed the officials and volunteers. Thank you to these wonderful helpers and to the rest of the team who took part in this amazing week of events.

 

Weekend Winners

 

Midweek Winners

The competition was an excellent lead up to the Sydney International Three Day Event scheduled for September, one of the selection events for the London Olympic Games. Everyone is invited to come and watch the exciting event running from Thursday 8 September to Sunday 11 September. Visit www.sydneyeventing.org for more information.

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