Above: Darcie Egglestone and Pride Of Gold winners of Tomkins Auctioneers 95cm Junior.

The 2024 Australian Jumping Championships opened today, here at the magnificent Willinga Park Equestrian Centre at Bawley Point on the NSW South Coast. While it is the first time that this venue has hosted these championships, it is fitting that the pinnacle of competition on the Australian domestic jumping calendar is being held at what is probably Australia’s finest showjumping venue.

Classes were conducted across two arenas in weather conditions which displayed Willinga Park at it finest, with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze to moderate the warm spring sunshine.

The action on the main showjumping arena kicked off with first rounds of the Australian Young Rider, Senior and Junior Championships. The action was fast and furious across all three championships as they each opened with Speed Classes (Article 239).

The first class was the Redleaf Lodge Australian Young Rider Championship First Round and leading the way were two young men who are going places in this sport. Both Charlie Magnier and Jack Barker are still eligible to compete in Junior classes, but here they were showing the Young Riders a clean pair of heels. Winning the class and taking a lead in the race for the Young Rider title was Charlie Magnier and Quinn Z, who scorched the turf to break the beam in just 70.42 seconds. Second place, went to Charlie again, this time on his import Notre Dame De Bourguignon, with a time of 73.59 seconds. Jack Barker had three mounts in the class, managing to steer Tulara On Trend into third place (73.97 seconds) and Tulara Colchic into fourth (76.00 seconds). These four combinations were all clear and we look forward to seeing what they can do first thing tomorrow when the second round of this championship is the first class scheduled for the main arena.

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We didn’t have to wait long in the program to see the big guns in action. The next class on the main arena was the first round of the Australian Senior Championship. With the top five placings all leaving the rails intact, it was an exciting class to watch, with less than seven seconds separating them. Fresh from their second placing in the recent NSW Senior Championship, the win in round one went to Tom McDermott and Cooley Gangster. They were the only combination to break the 80 second barrier (79.97 seconds) and are now the best placed combination to win the title this year, where they will be looking to improve on their third placing in the 2023 title. Having come in second last year, Phillip Lever and Billionaire NZPH, will also be looking to improve on that and they did their chances no harm by coming in second today, in a time of 82.84 seconds. Jamie Winning-Kermond and her ever improving mare Tulara Wat Colblensky were third in 84.60 seconds. As with the Young Riders, the second round of the Senior Championship will be held on Thursday.

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The next class on the main arena was the First Round of the Australian Junior Championship sponsored by Minks Estate. With a large start list of 63 combinations, there were many clears, however, the fastest round and the win went to Imogen Lindh and Licaviv, a horse previously campaigned by none other than Vicki Roycroft. They finished with a time of 66.30 seconds, just 0.14 seconds ahead of the Victorian combination of Tanner Robinson and Casiana. Third place went to the combination who took out the Junior class at the Magic Millions Event right back at the start of the year, Sienna Holdsworth-Rose and Coolart Farm Short Torque with a time of 67.32 seconds. The Juniors have a rest day tomorrow and will be back for a second round of the championship on Friday.

Other action on the main arena consisted of a 1.25m class divided into a Young Horse and an Open section. The GPI Racing and Karaka Park Young Horse was won by Sam Whale and Kingslea Centrose, while the Open division was won by Rhys Stones aboard Riverton Red Balou.

The action on the main arena wrapped up with the first Riders Cup class of the show, which was conducted deep into the twilight. Run as a two-phase class, there were nine double clear performances out of the 27 starters, but the quickest of these was Clem Smith and his warmblood gelding Quantico 12.

On the Yandoo Equestrian Services Arena 2, there were five classes decided. The first three classes were all over 0.95m with the William Inglis Hotel Adult class going to Michelle Spiteri and Araluen Gold with a solid double clear performance. The Tomkins Auctioneers Junior class went to the Queensland combination of Darcie Egglestone and Pride Of Gold by a convincing three second margin. In the Ouverture Sport Horses Young Horses class, the win went to another Queensland combination, of Courtney Scott and the young chestnut mare Mira.

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The Arena Two action wrapped up with a 1.10m superphase class divided into Open and Young Horse divisions. The Investing Solutions Open class was taken out by top amateur rider Lori James and Restauranteur SHP by the barest of margins (0.08 seconds). Remarkably, this combination had a win at last years Australian Jumping Championships on Day 1 in a 1.10m TSHA class. They took the win today over a youngster making his mark in the sport Harrison Wessell aboard Oaks Kosmo. Harrison and Oaks Kosmo will be back in action tomorrow when they tackle the first round of the MRX Group Children’s Championship. The 1.10m Young Horse class went to Tarah Lawson and Tulara Collini, leading home five other double clear combinations.

Above: Lori James and Restauranteur SHP

It was a fantastic day of jumping action to kick off the 2024 Championships. We look forward to tomorrow when we will see the first Round of the Australian Children’s Championship as well as another Rider’s Cup class among the highlights.

Congratulations to all the winners and placegetters on Day 1 of the Championships, all of which are listed below

WEDNESDAY RESULTS

SHOWJUMPING ARENA

CLASS 1: REDLEAF LODGE: YOUNG RIDER CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND 1) – MINIMUM 1.35m

CLASS 2: SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND 1) – MINIMUM 1.50m

CLASS 3: JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (ROUND 1) – MINIMUM 1.25m

CLASS 4A: GPI RACING & KARAKA PARK: HORSES UNDER 9 YEARS – 1.25m

CLASS 4B: LOLLY KINGDOM: OPEN – 1.25m

CLASS 5: THE RIDERS CUP – 1.40m

YANDOO EQUESTRIAN SERVICES ARENA 2

CLASS 6A: THE WILLIAM INGLIS HOTEL: ADULTS – 0.95m

CLASS 6B: TOMKINS AUCTIONEERS: JUNIORS – 0.95m

CLASS 7: OUVERTURE SPORT HORSES: YOUNG HORSES – 0.95m

CLASS 8A: INVESTING SOLUTIONS: OPEN – 1.10m

CLASS 8B: THE LANCASTER FAMILY: YOUNG HORSES – 1.10m

Full results at https://online.equipe.com/shows/67097