Megan Jones and Sonja Johnson have swapped places after todays Cross Country phase thanks to a bit of speed on course by Sonja. Megan was sitting in second after dressage on the beautiful big grey Kirby Park Irish Jester but took it steady around the cross country course vying for a clear round but collecting 10.8 time penalties in the process.
Sonja managed to make it a clear round with just 3.6 time penalties pushing her into second place. Our leader Shane Rose was the only one who went clear and under time, he now has one rail up his sleeve to stay in the lead!
[Megan Jones - KIRBY PARK ALLOFASUDDEN at the Billabong Water]
Wendy Schaeffer has campaigned with force and has three rides out of the top 6 in this Horseland CCI Three Star Class. If you want to see which of these fine lady riders is going to come out on top you had better be here for the morning of showjumping which kicks of at 8.30am after the Trot Up at 6.30am. The Horseland Three Star Class will get underway from 2pm - and seating is covered!
The EFA NSW Water Jump featured as one of the most spectacular jumps of the day with 30 out of the 32 riders making it through the combination clear. This is only the second time this water combination has been ridden this way and negotiated a down hill gallop to the narrow fence 7 (SIEC Brown Snake and Stump Fence), and onto the water Billabong Log. The water has an island in the middle that riders jump onto with the ‘Lighthouse” jump at the top of the island.
Olivia Bunn makes this combination look easy - unfortunately she did trip up later at the NSW Institute of Sport Corner later in the round.
Heath Ryan did it with his own unique style riding HOCS STRIESAND
Shane Rose has managed to keep his lead throughout todays Cross Country. Shane and ALL LUCK went round the course of solid obstacles that measured over 1.20m and made it look like a breeze!
[Shane Rose riding ALL LUCK - thanks to Main Event photography]
Results of the Horseland Three Star Class are as follows:
1st: Shane Rose ALL LUCK
2nd: Sonja Johnson RINGWOULD JAGUAR
3rd: Megan Jones KIRBY PARK IRISH JESTER
4th: Wendy Schaeffer KOYUNA SUN SHINE
5th: Wendy Schaeffer KOYUNA SUN MAGIC
Well I know you are all anxious to find out who won the Best Dressed from this mornings trot up so here we are:
CCI*** Best Dressed Girl was Megan Jones
CCI*** Best Dressed Boy was Chris Burton
CCI** Best Dressed Girl was Sonja Johnson
CCI** Best Dressed Boy was Shaun Dillon
Congratulations to all of these riders!
The Judge of the Trot Up was Jade Garel.
A massive thank you to the two sponsors of the Trot Up RM Williams, who now have an online store where you can shop for clothing and the world famous RM Williams boots, all Australian made and owned. Its a great way to check out the new winter range or pick up a pair of your favorite equestrian boots. They even have a large part of the website dedicated to leather care, something I know that anyone with a horse will be very interested in!
Our Second Trot Up sponsor, Club Equus is also a sponsor of the Bates International Three Day, will be providing its lucky members with the opportunity to enjoy VIP hospitality at the event. Members and their guests will be treated to food, wine and much more in the Club Equus VIP marquees.
Well if you thought that Heath Ryan was one of our most competitive riders in the dressage phase then you may have underestimated the standard of flatwork that our eventing riders have archived. It said allot, (particularly about EI that made jumping impossible for many over the past year) about the amount of work our riders have been putting into this phase.
1st: Shane Rose ALL LUCK
2nd: Megan Jones KIRBY PARK IRISH JESTER
3rd: Sonja Johnson RINGWOULD JAGUAR
4th: Olivia Bunn GV BULLWINKLE
5th: Christopher Burton NEWSPRINT
5th: Heath Ryan MYSTERY WHISPER
[The Ground Jury]
[Megan Jones sits in Second Place after Dressage with 41.3 penalties]
With just 12 competitors the EFA NSW CCI** was smaller than in years past, but with the standard of dressage performed over the past two days the riders remained very competitive.
[Hamish Cargill and Powderhound]
[Robyn Brown 8th after Dressage]
The scores ranged from 49.8 to 70.0 and as we mentioned before, Deon Stokes and BML BLUEPRINT came in first closely followed by Emma Mason. Here are the EFA NSW CCI** Class Results in full.
[Deon Stokes coming 1st after dressage with BLM Blueprint]
Well the penalties have been tallied and the judge comments are in, so riders can loosen those cravats and untie the horse plaits because if your halt was not square or your circle not round (dressage really is the strangest of all eventing disciplines) there is no point stressing about it now.
So what did happen on Day 2 of the Bates International Three Day event, who’s in the running and who’s way down the list? Well here are the results: in full for those of you that have asked!
Mitavite CCI*
1st: Kevin McNab KINNORDY GALERA
2nd: Rachael Lee HUNTER HILL
3rd: Tarsha Hammond RIO LOBO
4th: Jennifer Irvine-Brown PEPPERTREE
5th: Andry Prasetyono ASWATAMA SPORTZGIRL
