Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie – 2019 Australian Children’s Champions
Above: Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie
The first of the major Championships to be decided on Day 4 of the Pryde’s EasiFeed Australian Showjumping Championships this morning was the Beaconhills College Australian Children’s Title. The Title, held over two qualifying rounds and a final gave some of the best youngsters in the country the chance to show what they could do on the big stage and despite the weather, for the most part proving quite a challenge, the competitors performed admirably. Let’s take a look at how the Children’s Championship unfolded.
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Qualifier One was held on Wednesday afternoon and was conducted as a speed class. Queenslander Holly Tomkins and her mare Princess Annie raced around the course clear in 60.67 seconds to take the win. NSW Rider Eden Kautz and RL Chinotto was also clear, but about 2.5 seconds slower than the winner and this was enough to secure second place. Local entrant, Charlee Dobbin and Dreamtime Invader took a rail in a round that would have been fast enough to take the win, however, the four seconds added to the time meant that they finished in third. All the placegetters from Round 1 are listed below.
Charlee Dobbin and Dreamtime Invader
CLASS 3: Beaconhills College – Australian Children’s Championship Round 1 – 1.00m
The first ten placegetters in this class were:
PLACE | RIDER | HORSE | $ |
1st | Holly Tomkins | Princess Annie | $60 |
2nd | Eden Kautz | RI Chinotto | $50 |
3rd | Charlee Dobbin | Dreamtime Invader | $40 |
4th | Olivia Hewitt-Toms | Gypsie Queen | $30 |
5th | Hayden Parker | Fat Boy Slim | $25 |
6th | Charlee Dobbin | Lovegrove | $20 |
7th | Charly Robinson-Smith | GB Ruby | $20 |
8th | Tanner Robinson | Shady Creek Blue Fire | $20 |
9th | Jorja Lenehan | Malvasia | $20 |
10th | Holly Tomkins | Donegal Red | $15 |
Qualifier 2 was conducted first thing on Friday morning. In a fantastic display of jumping in trying conditions, just over half (23) of the field of 44 went clear to qualify for a large and exciting jump off. There were many things different in Round 2 than in Round 1. The class article number, the arena and even the time of day, but one thing that did not change was the winner. Once again Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie led the way, winning a close jump off by just on a third of a second, from Victorian state development squad member Hayden Parker and Fat Boy Slim. Charly Robinson-Smith and Our Peace Maker filled third place. These were just three of 11 combinations who managed to go double clear and while official placings are recorded down to tenth spot, Simone Sorenson and Bayview Wish List could consider themselves a little unlucky, having gone double clear and still missing out on the prize money. Official placings for the Second Round are listed below.
Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie
CLASS 22: Beaconhills College – Australian Children’s Championship Round 2 – 1.05m
The first ten placegetters in this class were:
PLACE | RIDER | HORSE | $ |
1st | Holly Tomkins | Princess Annie | $60 |
2nd | Hayden Parker | Fat Boy Slim | $50 |
3rd | Charly Robinson-Smith | Our Peace Maker | $40 |
4th | Tansy Sagar | K S Snap Chat | $30 |
5th | Aria Baker | That’s Limo | $25 |
6th | Holly Tomkins | Donegal Red | $25 |
7th | Abigail Lewis | MEC Gossip | $25 |
8th | Charlee Dobbin | Lovegrove | $20 |
9th | Laura Edwards | Jellystone Park Chivas | $20 |
10th | Ava Berkelouw | Kokobean | $15 |
As this was one of the major championships to be decided at this year’s Titles, the Championship scoring system. Here is a brief summary of how the system works.
Before starting in today’s final, calculations were done based on each combination’s placing in the First and Second Rounds, to determine the relative starting position of each combination.
Title Class Scoring Sumary
ROUND ONE 1st place receives points equivalent to the number of combinations in the class, plus one (eg. If 30 combinations are in the class the winner receives 31 points) 2nd place receives one less than the number of combinations in the class, with 3rd receiving one less again (eg. 2nd receives 29 points, 3rd receives 28 points etc) Eliminated or retired combinations receive 0 points.
ROUND TWO Round Two is calculated in the same way as Round One, regardless of the number of starters in the round, (eg if only 26 combinations start in Round 2, the winner receives 31 points, 2nd 29 points, 3rd 28 points and so on).
FINAL ROUND For each combination, the points scored in both rounds are added and the combinations are ranked according to the total points scored
The points are then converted to penalties using the following formula:
– The leader after the first 2 rounds starts the Final on zero penalties. – Other combinations have their penalties calculated by subtracting their total points from the leader’s total points, and dividing by two. – Any fractions are rounded down to the nearest whole number.
The winner is the combination with the least number of penalties at the end of the Grand Prix final. If there is a tie for first or runner up, those competitors will jump off and penalties and time will decide the winner in the jump off round.
So, what all that means is that the best performed combination in the Two Rounds starts the final on zero penalties, with each of the other combinations, starting on a penalty score which represents how far behind the best performed combination they were. These “Carry Forward Penalties” for the final are listed below for the top 30 combinations going into the final.
RIDER | HORSE | R1 | R2 | TOT. | DIFF | CFP |
Holly Tomkins | Princess Annie | 47 | 47 | 94 | 0 | 0 |
Hayden Parker | Fat Boy Slim | 42 | 45 | 87 | 7 | 3 |
Charlee Dobbin | Lovegrove | 41 | 39 | 80 | 14 | 7 |
Olivia Hewitt-toms | Gypsie Queen | 43 | 35 | 78 | 16 | 8 |
Holly Tomkins | Donegal Red | 37 | 41 | 78 | 16 | 8 |
Charlee Dobbin | Dreamtime Invader | 44 | 33 | 77 | 17 | 8 |
Abigail Lewis | MEC Gossip | 34 | 40 | 74 | 20 | 10 |
Eden Kautz | Rl Chinotto | 45 | 28 | 73 | 21 | 10 |
Aria Baker | That’s Limo | 31 | 42 | 73 | 21 | 10 |
Jorja Lenehan | Malvasia | 38 | 34 | 72 | 22 | 11 |
Tansy Sagar | K S Snap Chat | 29 | 43 | 72 | 22 | 11 |
Charly Robinson-Smith | Our Peace Maker | 28 | 44 | 72 | 22 | 11 |
Hudson Craig | Flashdance DH | 35 | 30 | 65 | 29 | 14 |
Elissa Stephens | Da Vince | 33 | 32 | 65 | 29 | 14 |
Ava Berkelouw | Kokobean | 24 | 37 | 61 | 33 | 16 |
Tanner Robinson | Shady Creek Blue Fire | 39 | 21 | 60 | 34 | 17 |
Charly Robinson-Smith | GB Ruby | 40 | 19 | 59 | 35 | 17 |
Noah Johnson | Caveton Park Cabaret | 26 | 29 | 55 | 39 | 19 |
Simone Sorensen | Bayview Wish List | 17 | 36 | 53 | 41 | 20 |
Alyssa Greening | Miss Demeanor | 25 | 27 | 52 | 42 | 21 |
Laura Edwards | Jellystone Park Chivas | 14 | 38 | 52 | 42 | 21 |
Charlize Bradley | Winnermaker | 20 | 31 | 51 | 43 | 21 |
Tanner Robinson | Bringmoore | 30 | 14 | 44 | 50 | 25 |
Sophie Baldwin | Alcheringa Tradition | 22 | 22 | 44 | 50 | 25 |
Holly Tomkins | Jaybee Cabaret | 36 | 7 | 43 | 51 | 25 |
Simone Sorensen | Caboonbah Baileys | 18 | 25 | 43 | 51 | 25 |
India Lamperd | Lushious Lola | 27 | 12 | 39 | 55 | 27 |
Dakota Pinton | Coolart Farm Smiley | 21 | 17 | 38 | 56 | 28 |
Grace Ivill | Spice Thyme | 23 | 13 | 36 | 58 | 29 |
Sarah Harms | Calveston Cavalier | 19 | 16 | 35 | 59 | 29 |
So going into today’s final Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie were at a distinct advantage over the rest of the field. If they could continue their stellar run, they could not be beaten for the title, however just one or two slip-ups would bring any number of very keen aspirants back into title contention.
In today’s final, held in very cool and windy conditions, the competitors got a taste of what it might be like to compete in a jumping event held somewhere in Antarctica. Despite the icy conditions, the competitors warmed to their task and put together a very commendable display of their jumping prowess.
After the first round in the final, Tomkins and Princess Annie were still in the lead, thanks to another clear round, their fourth of the week. Unfortunately for them, Hayden Parker and Fat Boy Slim took a rail to increase their standing to a total of seven penalties, however, this was still enough to keep them in second place. Most of the other combinations that were in reach of the lead recorded clear rounds, meaning that the leaderboard changed little.
The top 15 still in the title race were invited back for a second round in the final.
Most of the first 11 combinations were able to record clear rounds which was the best they could do. They could only make up ground on the leaders if the leaders slipped up, however, they were all striving to remain as high as possible up the orders to be ready to pounce should the leaders faulter. Despite this, the competition came down to the last four who had any reasonable chance of taking the title.
Holly Tompkins and her other horse Donegal Red were the fourth last combination on course, starting on a total of eight penalties. A rail round meant that they finished on 12 and could only wait and hope that the remaining combinations succumbed to the pressure. Next to tackle the course was Charlee Dobbin and Dreamtime Invader, also starting on eight penalties. A clear round meant that they stayed on eight points and could finish no lower than third place.
The second last combination were Hayden Parker and Fat Boy Slim who were starting on seven points. They also went clear to finish on 7 penalties and secure a place on the podium.
Hayden Parker and Fat Boy Slim
We had to wait just a little bit for the Champion-in-waiting to appear. Tomkins, having ridden just a few minutes ago had to give Princess Annie a proper warm up. There was no point in taking any short cuts now as the title was all hers to lose. They entered the arena holding a seven penalty lead over Parker, so a single rail would not be a problem, while two would be a disaster.
They tackled the course calmly and confidently. After all this pair had already completed four clear rounds so there was no reason to suspect that this time would be a problem.
As it turned out it wasn’t! Tomkins and Princess Annie once again went clear, and just to prove their dominance over the rest of the field, did so in a time quicker than anybody else. They had a perfect week and were well deserved winners of the title.
CLASS 31: Beaconhills College – Australian Children’s Championship FINAL – 1.10m
The first ten placegetters in this class were:
PLACE | RIDER | HORSE | $ |
1st | Holly Tomkins | Princess Annie | $200 |
2nd | Hayden Parker | Fat Boy Slim | $160 |
3rd | Charlee Dobbin | Dreamtime Invader | $120 |
4th | Holly Tomkins | Donegal Red | $80 |
5th | Olivia Hewitt-Toms | Gypsie Queen | $40 |
6th | Eden Kautz | RL Chinotto | $50 |
7th | Abigail Lewis | MEC Gossip | $50 |
8th | Aria Baker | That’s Limo | $30 |
9th | Charlee Dobbin | Lovegrove | $20 |
10th | Tansy Sagar | K S Snap Chat | $20 |
Australian Jumping congratulates Holly Tomkins and Princess Annie for their fantastic performance as well as the rest of the competitors, on what was a wonderful Championship.