Australian Jumping Team set to take on the World!
Above: Hilary Scott and Oaks Milky Way.
After four days of exciting competition in a variety of disciplines, we are now only one day away from the start of the Jumping program at the 2022 World Equestrian Games at Herning in Denmark. Yesterday, our four combinations all presented wonderfully at the veterinary inspection and today, each was involved in a jumping familiarisation session on the main arena.
Each country fielding a team were allotted an accurately timed segment on the main arena, which was used to familiarise the horses with the surroundings in which they will compete in the World Championship. Australia was allotted their 6.5 minute timeslot for James Arkins and Eurostar 1, Billy Raymont and Black Jack IXE, Hilary Scott and Oaks Milky Way and Katie Laurie and Django II which gave them just enough time to explore the arena and pop over a few jumps.
James Arkins and Eurostar 1
Billy Raymont and Black Jack IXE
Katie Laurie and Django II
So we are now all set for the Jumping competition to get underway on Wednesday at 11 am in Denmark, which equates to 7 pm AEST. The first competition takes the form of a speed class, scored in typical Table C format, where each combination’s final result is the time taken in seconds, with 4 seconds added for each rail down etc. For the purpose of the championship, because performances in speed classes cannot simply be added to penalties incurred in other classes to get a total number of penalties for the competition, these raw results will be translated into penalties. This is done by dividing the speed class score by 2, then recalibrating the field so that the class winner ends up on zero and everybody else a higher number than this, proportional to their distance behind the leader. (*An example of these calculations is provided below for clarification).
Individual scores also contribute to team scores with the drop score principle applied each day (ie. the best performed 3 combinations contributing to their team score for the day).
The second competition will be conducted over two rounds and run over two days (Thursday and Friday). Only the best 10 teams (and any ties for 10th) and the best 60 (and any ties for 60th) individual combinations based on the combined penalties from Wednesday and Thursday will be invited back for Friday’s action.
At the conclusion of Friday’s competition we will have the winning team for the 2022 World Championships and know the 25 Individual combinations (based on the aggregate penalties incurred over the previous three days of competition) moving forward to the Individual Final on Sunday afternoon.
After a rest day on Saturday, the Individual Final and the title of the World Champion will be decided.
It all sounds a little complicated, but we will walk through the results as each days’ competition unfolds. We would like to wish all four combinations, their grooms and the horse owners the very best of luck over the next few days and we hope that they can show the rest of the world just how good Australian Jumping can be.
The action will be available for viewing on FEI TV and free to air on 7plus.
(*Combination A goes clear and finishes in 70.00 seconds. Combination B takes 76.00 seconds and takes one rail, which means they end up with an adjusted total of 80.00, and combination C leaves all the rails up but takes 90.00 seconds to complete the course. Combination A wins the class. Raw scores are divided by 2, so Combination A is converted to 35.00, Combination B to 40.00 and Combination C to 45.00. As Combination A won the class, they will start Day 2 on Zero penalties, while Combination B, because they were an adjusted 5 points higher, will start Day 2 on 5 penalties. Combination C will start on 10 penalties)