Above: Nathan Wood and Si Van Heiste 

The 2023 Dressage and Jumping with the Stars (DJWTS), got underway this morning at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre. Sponsored by Performance Sales International (PSI), the main focus of the jumping portion of the program is on the young horses. Separate competitions are held for 4, 5, 6 and 7-year-olds while there is also an open competition for the “Current stars” as well as Bronze and Silver Tours. The highlight of the Jumping program will be on Saturday afternoon with the second leg of the 2023 Australian FEI World Cup Series to be held.

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Young Horse classes are run under different criteria to regular jumping competitions where the number of rails down and the time taken are all that count. The young horse classes today were decided by a combination of the judges’ assessment of the performance with rails down being deducted from scores.

Horses are judged on jumping technique, scope over fences and rideability between fences, i.e., the correct number of strides between related distances, being on the bit, changes, etc. General impressions are recorded, taking into account attitude, focus and commitment and positive outlook. There are deductions in marks for rails down and refusals. Scores for a range of criteria (movement and type, rideability, scope, technique and general impression) are made by each of three judges and the scores combined into a single percentage. The combination with the highest percentage are the winners. The three judges for the young horse part of the show are an international representative from Germany, former top Jumping rider Andreas Kreuzer, Victorian jumping identity Sue Coman and experienced horse breeder, Ulrich Klatte from Queensland.

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In each age group, there are two qualifying rounds with the top 10 combinations being invited to compete in Saturday’s final.

The first class scheduled this morning was the Andoo Young Jumping Horse 4-year-old competition. There were a total of 16 combinations entered in this class for the youngest horses on show. The judges were impressed with the standard of the horses on show, making many positive comments about the style and attitude of the young talent.

The win, with a score of 81.50%, went to Si Van Heiste (sired by Cabrio Van De Heffinck with Dam Sire Orlando), expertly ridden by Nathan Wood from New South Wales. This horse was bred by Patrick Gillis and owned by Nathan himself. They took the win by the slender margin of 0.4% from the second placed Konsider It Done D (Sire Comme II Faut & Dam Sire Cassini I), ridden by Sally Simmonds. Third place went to Glenara Cover Up (Sire Diamant De Semilly & Dam Sire Caracus) ridden by Victorian based rider Frida Lindgren with a score of 79.63%. Special mention here goes to Frida Lindgren who managed to also ride both the fourth placed horse and the sixth placed horse.

The second round of this competition will be held first thing tomorrow morning.

The top six placings in this class were:

Andoo – Australian Young Jumping Horse – 4-year-olds – Round 1

The second round of this competition will be held first thing tomorrow morning.

The next class was the first round of the Trailrace Australian Young Jumping Horse – 5-year-olds competition where 42 combinations were entered.

With a fantastic score of 85.43%, the class was taken out by Diamond B Chatterbox (sired by current World Cup Class horse Cornel & Dam Sire Vivant) and was ridden by Emma Collins. The horse was bred by Helen Chugg’s Diamond B Farm and is owned by Emma herself. In a Diamond B Farm breeding quinella, second place went to Diamond B Franklin (Sire Emerald Van T Ruytershof & Dam Sire Conquistador), ridden by Victorian Ally Lamb, with a score of 84.57%. The NSW based combination of James Paterson-Robinson and Condor (Again sired by Cornel with Dam Sire Zirocco Blue) had to settle for third, with a score of 84.43%. Condor was bred and is owned by Melissa Blair.

Above: Emma Collins and Diamond B Chatterbox

The top six placings in this class were:

Trailrace – Australian Young Jumping Horse – 5-year-olds – Round 1

After a short break in proceedings the next class on the main arena was Round 1 of the Southern Cross Event Hire Australian Young Jumping Horse 6-year-old competition which saw 25 combinations tackle the course with the fences set at 1.10m.

A large crowd saw Blue Balou PS (Sire Action Blue & Dam Sire Chacco Blue) wonderfully ridden by Queensland based star rider Billy Raymont judged to be the best combination in the class with a score of 85.27%. Second place went to CF Edelweiss (Sire Emerald & Dam Sire Clearway) ridden on behalf of Chuggy Equestrian by Gabrielle Chugg, with a score of 84.87%. Al Fonso (Sire Tulara Colmine & Dam Sire Couleur Rubin) placed third, with NSW based Jess-Rice Ward in the saddle with a score of 84.40%. These three combinations will go into tomorrow’s second round well placed to reach Saturday’s final, where only the top 10 combinations will advance.

Above: Billy Raymont and Blue Balou PS

The top 6 placings in this class were:

Southern Cross Event Hire – Australian Young Jumping Horse – 6-year-olds – Round 1

The fourth and final age class for today was the first round of the Antares Australian Young Jumping Horse 7-year-old competition. Just 23 combinations lined up to contest the class, which saw the win go to Everest JEP (Sire Emerald Van T Ruytershof & Dam Sire Carrado I) ridden by last week’s Shepparton World Cup Qualifier winner, Sarah McMillan. This grey warmblood gelding that McMillan owns, looked an absolute picture in the arena, finishing with a score of 83.40%. Less than a percentage point behind in second place was Benthens Balou (Sire Balou Du Rouet & Dam Sire Silvio) ridden by young New Zealand rider Georgia Bouzaid who also owns the horse. Their score was 82.67%. The Tulara Warmbloods product Tulara Lady Zirocco (Sire Zirocco Blue & Dam Sire Colman) was placed third, ridden by Jamie Winning-Kermond. The horse is owned by Cara Palm and finished with a score of 82.57%.

Antares – Australian Young Jumping Horse – 7-year-olds – Round 1

It was a great day of jumping for the young horses, with the standard as high as ever. However, there was plenty of competition to be seen on the other arenas.

ARENA 2

While the focus was on the young horses in Arena 1, there were also three classes of fantastic jumping competition on Arena 2,

The morning action started with the first round of the Theault Silver Tour over 1.20m. Fifty-one combinations had to wait out a fierce storm, before the action got underway, which saw more than half the field record clear rounds, setting up a massive jump-off. Of the 29 combinations involved 14 went clear again, which is where the speedy riding of the current Australian Senior Champion Tom McDermott came to the fore. In a ride that lit up Werribee Park, McDermott and Quintation sped around the jump off course in just 43.13 to take out the class. Second place went to former Western Australian rider, (now training in Sydney under the guidance of Tom McDermott), Chloe Versteegen and Cera Quantero. The pupil just missed out on teaching the master a lesson, finishing in 43.37 seconds. Third place went to NSW’s Charlie Magnier and Quinn Z, who finished in a time exactly one second behind the winner. It was a great class to watch, full of high quality jumping, setting up what should be a cracker of a second round tomorrow morning.

The first six placings in this class were as follows:

THEAULT – SILVER TOUR – ROUND 1

The next class saw a total of 30 combinations taking the opportunity to fine-tune their preparation for Saturday’s Wyndham City FEI World Cup Qualifier by competing in a 1.40m Warm Up class. The first combination on course were, Frida Lindgren and Mabobri De Mabribo who produced a scintillating clear round in 78.82 seconds, which was the benchmark for the rest of the field to catch. One-by-one each combination tried, however, nobody was able to do it. They took the win by just 0.24 seconds from the always swift Clem Smith and Oaks Conjuror in second with Victorian legend Russell Johnstone taking third with Daprice almost four seconds in arrears.

Congratulations to the winner on a magnificent ride, setting a cracking pace that nobody else could match. The top six placings in the FEI World Cup Warm up class were as follows:

WYNDHAM CITY – WORLD CUP QUALIFIER WARM UP CLASS

The first round of the JPR Equestrian Current Stars Series concluded the action from Day 1 at the D&JWTS show. Due to this morning’s storm induced delayed start, this class had its article number changed to exclude the possibility of a jump off and ensure that the class didn’t finish too late into the evening.

Winners of the class with a brilliant clear performance were Tom McDermott and Lincoln MVNZ, a horse that Tess McInerney usually rides. They were one of 17 clear rounds, but it was their time of 68.92 seconds, over four seconds clear of their nearest rivals that secured the win. Madeline Sinderberry and Balentino with a time of 72.96 seconds filled second place, while Suzie Williams from Victoria, paired with Commander NZPH another two and a half seconds further behind in third. It was great entertainment for the onlookers and we look forward to another Future Stars class tomorrow.

The first six placings in this class were as follows:

JPR EQUESTRIAN – CURRENT STARS – ROUND 1

ARENA 3

There was just one class held this morning on the third arena, which was the first round of the Taranto Glass Bronze Tour Sixty-five combinations lined up for the class which was won by one of the youngest, if not the youngest, rider in the field. NSW based wizz-kid, Charlie Magnier rode Master Stevie G clear in this single round competition, finishing in a time of 61.01 seconds, almost four seconds faster than the second placed combination. That position went to Victorian rider Louise Abey and thoroughbred gelding Sail On By, who finished clear in 64.80 seconds. Third place went to Tom McDermott and Yalambi’s Kandy Apple in 66.44 seconds. This warmblood mare seems to enjoy jumping at Werribee Park where McDermott rode her to a second placing in the 6-year-old championship at this event two years ago. Congratulations to the winners who set a cracking pace that nobody else could match.

Full results from this class can be found here.

TARANTO GLASS – BRONZE TOUR – ROUND 1

We congratulate all the winners and placegetters from today and look forward to Round 2 competition on all these Series tomorrow as well as the World Cup Qualifier.