McDermott and Cadenza NZPH dominate Section 2 Competition
The Section 2 Jumping has wrapped up this afternoon at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The competition was dominated by Tom McDermott and Cadenza NZPH, a horse we first saw him compete in the 2023 Australian Championships, where they took out the Riders Cup Series. Let’s review the competition and see how Tom and Cadenza NZPH did it.
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The Section 2 competition opened on Wednesday with a speed class, where Tom and Cadenza NZPH set the tone for the week. They scooted around the course clear in just 62.80 seconds, over four seconds faster than the second placed, also clear, Jessica Stalling and Chatina, (66.94 seconds). In third place after taking a rail and finishing in an adjusted time of 69.06 seconds were Maverick Miles and Verdasco. The top six placings in the first round were as follows:
GROUP A (SECTION 2): ROUND 1 RESULTS
| PLACE | RIDER | HORSE |
| 1st | Tom McDermott | Cadenza NZPH |
| 2nd | Jessica Stalling | Chatina |
| 3rd | Maverick Miles | Verdasco |
| 4th | Sarah Duggan | Dublin |
| 5th | Jamie Winning-Kermond | Yandoo Honolulu |
| 6th | Andrew Inglis | Alillie |
Thursday saw the Section 2 combinations out again, and this time we saw Tom’s colours lowered for the only time over the four days of competition. Four clear rounds gave rise to a four-way jump-off, where three went double clear. In a fantastic effort Emma Collins and Oaks Abracadabra put in a scintillating jump-off round, to stop the clock at 53.27 seconds, claiming the victory by just 0.64 seconds from Tom McDermott and Cadenza NZPH also clear in 53.91 seconds. In third place, just over 1.5 seconds in arears were the Round 1 runners-up, Jessica Stalling and Chatina. The top six placegetters were:
GROUP A (SECTION 2): ROUND 2 RESULTS
| PLACE | RIDER | HORSE |
| 1st | Emma Collins | Oaks Abracadabra |
| 2nd | Tom McDermott | Cadenza NZPH |
| 3rd | Jessica Stalling | Chatina |
| 4th | Sarah Duggan | Dublin |
| 5th | Andrew Inglis | Alillie |
| 6th | Anneliese Wansey | Texas |
Above: Emma Collins and Oaks Abracadabra.
After a rest day on Friday, the Section 2 combinations were back at it on Saturday afternoon in another jump-off class. Once again, there were just four clear combinations in the jump-off, which once again culminated in a victory to Tom McDermott and Cadenza NZPH. They were just one of three combinations which went double clear, however, their time of 59.05 seconds was enough to claim the victory. In second place, finishing in 60.64 seconds were the third-place getters from Round 1, Maverick Miles and Verdasco. They just prevailed for second place by 0.17 seconds over Anneliese Wansey and Grandiamo (60.81 seconds).
The top six were as follows:
GROUP A (SECTION 2): ROUND 3 RESULTS
| PLACE | RIDER | HORSE |
| 1st | Tom McDermott | Cadenza NZPH |
| 2nd | Maverick Miles | Verdasco |
| 3rd | Anneliese Wansey | Grandiamo |
| 4th | Jamie Winning-Kermond | Yandoo Honolulu |
| 5th | Jessica Stalling | Chatina |
| 6th | Anneliese Wansey | Texas |
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So we came to the final this afternoon for the Section 2 combinations with, if Jumping was a sport that involved gambling, Tom and Cadenza NZPH the short priced favourites. They were one of just two clears setting up an exciting jump-off, in which Tom and Cadenza NZPH also went clear, their time of 58.48 seconds was a touch slower than that recorded by Jessica Stalling and Chatina (57.54 seconds), however, they took a rail which deleted their chance of victory. On a big day for Jamie Winning-Kermond who had earlier won the Section 3 final, she was third in the final with Yandoo Honolulu, as they were the fastest of the two four-faulters. The top six placegetters in the Final were as follows:
GROUP A (SECTION 2): FINAL RESULTS
| PLACE | RIDER | HORSE |
| 1st | Tom McDermott | Cadenza NZPH |
| 2nd | Jessica Stalling | Chatina |
| 3rd | Jamie Winning-Kermond | Yandoo Honolulu |
| 4th | Anneliese Wansey | Texas |
| 5th | Emma Collins | Oaks Abracadabra |
| 6th | Natalie Mohr | Dylano |
At the presentation for the class results, there was an award announced for the Best Performed Section 2 Jumping Horse. After winning three of the four classes in the series and recording seven from seven clear rounds in the process, there was no doubt that Cadenza NZPH was entitled to the award. It looks like Tom has got another very good one on his hands and we will watch with interest to see how this combinations develops in the coming months and years.
Above: Tom McDermott and Cadenza NZPH.
Above: Jessica Stalling and Chatina .
