After four days of wonderful jumping, the Pryde’s EasiFeed World Cup show wrapped up yesterday afternoon at Gatton. The feature class of the program was the second leg of the Australian World Cup Qualifying series which was the last class held on the Pryde’s EasiFeed Main arena and a full wrap of this exciting event can be seen in our separate article HERE.

Advertisement

Large fields were evident throughout the classes, especially during the first few days when qualifying classes in a number of championships were conducted. The weekend saw the finals of these series’ with only the top 30 combinations based on performances during the two qualifying rounds permitted to compete.

Saturday morning saw the first championship, that being for Newcomers. While we are sure that the winning horse, Valentino QSH, was a newcomer, we are not so sure about the rider. The very experienced Ross Smith was part of only three combinations to go double clear in the final with their jump-off time some 2.5 seconds quicker than their nearest rival. Smith and Valentina QSH saved their best for the final after hinting at their good form by finishing 6th and 14th in the two qualifying rounds. The second placed combination of Lucie Aldridge and Twins Royalty really saved their best to last. Just scraping into the top 30 to compete in the final, after placing 18^th and then 39^th in the qualifying rounds, Aldridge and Twins Royalty stepped up a gear to comfortably finish in second, almost 4 seconds clear of the third placed Michelle Niass and Warraleigh Park Ally Umbro.

Ross Smith and Valentina QSH

The only other championship decided on Saturday was the Future Stars for horses aged either 6, 7 or 8 years. The two qualifying classes were dominated by James Arkins who operates out of his base at Moss Vale in the NSW Southern Highlands. Arkins filled first, second and fourth place in the first qualifier and went one better by taking all three places on the podium in the second qualifying round. With all three of his horses (Rosthwaite Cover Girl: first then second, Joevaro R: second then third and Yalambi Jaguar: fourth and first) in white hot form, he must have gone into the final with some level of confidence, however, it was not to be. As in the Newcomer final beforehand, experience triumphed, with the win going to popular Queenslander Clem Smith and Oaks Conjuror. Smith and Oaks Conjurer, after finishing eighth and thirty-first in the qualifiers put on a wonderful performance in the final, with a pair of clears and a margin of almost two seconds to the second placed Maverick Miles and Verdasco. This pair had shown they were a threat in the championship by recording a fifth placing in the first qualifier. Third place in the final went to the only other double clear performance, being local rider Gemma Creighton and Diangella.

Clem Smith and Oaks Conjuror

Clem Smith and Oaks Conjuror

The last class of the day on the main arena was an FEI World Youth Challenge qualifying class. As the 2022 World Youth Games has been cancelled, the FEI are organising an international Youth Jumping competition which will involve Australian sending their best Youth (aged 14 – 18) rider. Currently there are three qualification classes organised, after which a selection will be made. The first qualifier was at Camden in NSW last week and was won by Charlie Richardson, with the second qualifier at Gatton, and a third scheduled for Perth in October.

Advertisement

With a height of 1.30m, this class is only for the elite youngsters and we saw three of them competing on five horses. The win, in a contest over two rounds went to Queensland rising star Maleah Lang-McMahon and PSS Chantilly, who recorded just a single time fault in two rides. Second place went to Cody Tincknell and Meridian Primadonna, who after taking two rails in round 1, produced a clear second round to finish on eight faults. Third place went to Charly Robinson-Smith and Our Peace Maker who scored a total of 12 faults over her two rounds.

Maleah Lang-McMahon and PSS Chantilly

The first championship decided on Sunday was for the Young Riders. After a win and a second placing in the qualifying rounds, Anneliese Wansey and Aveden Indigo were the pick of the 20 combinations which made it through to the final. However, the unpredictability of the sport came to the fore, with a couple of rails in the final cruelling their chances. Of the 20 combinations, six went clear to create an exciting jump off. In the end it was the combination which finished second in the first qualifier, then tenth in the second qualifier, Sally Simmonds and Chio MS who prevailed. In a compelling performance, they went double clear and produced a time almost three seconds better than the other two double clears in the jump off. Second place went to Jess Rice-Ward and CP Southern Cross, who performed consistently across the weekend with this placing following up sixth and eighth in the qualifiers. Also consistent over the championship was the third placed Hayley Cox and Eclipsis. They went from ninth in the first qualifier, then sixth in the second to a podium finish in the final. It was a high-quality jump-off which brought together the current Australian Junior Champion, Sally Simmonds and two other former Australian champions and we can look forward to further battles between these young ladies over the rest of the year.

Sally Simmonds and Chio MS

The next championship decided today was the Junior Championship. The best performed combination over the two qualifying rounds was Queenslander, Maleah Lang-McMahon and Finch Farm Carlsberg with third then first placings and they were one of 8 combinations clear of the 20 participants in the first round of the final. A double clear performance by this pair with a jump-off time of 36.50 seconds was enough to secure the win, but it was a close run thing. Also double clear, but with a jump-off time just 0.03 seconds slower was Sydney based Lucy Lock and Diamont, who had previously finished in third place in the second qualifier. Third place went to another Queenslander, Cody Tincknell and Copabella Tattiana, who was about 2.5 seconds slower than the top two. This pair had split Lang-McMahon and Locke by finishing in second place in the second qualifier.

The second championship decided on the Pryde’s EasiFeed main arena today was the Mini-Prix Championship. With only the top 30 qualifying for the final from two huge fields in the qualifiers, it was as good a Mini-Prix field as you would find anywhere. After winning the first and second qualifying rounds, Samantha Dernee and Diamond B Casanova and Sam Overton and Oaks Cassanova respectively would have gone into today’s final with confidence, although there were a number of big names in the field. In the final, there were only two double clear rounds with the win being taken by the Queensland based combination Stuart Jenkins and Adecci. This was a great performance after finishing thirty-fifth then 10^th in the two qualifiers. The other double clear combination were another Queensland combination of Gemma Creighton and Dada Des Brimbelles Z, who placed second. Creating a Queensland trifecta, third place went to former Australian representative Peter McMahon and K.S Sovereign’s Cadel.

Advertisement

The last championship decided today was for the Amateurs. With the top 20 qualifiers involved, it was a great class, however, in the end there was just one combination who managed to go double clear and that was Michael Short and Belle Phlynn Park Carmichael. After twenty-fourth and eleventh placings in the qualifiers, Short would have been one of the last qualifiers for the final, however, they certainly performed when the pressure was on. Second place went to Mia Smith and Sangster who had placed third then fifth in the qualifiers and had completed four clear rounds before a mistake in the jump-off in the final. Smith completed a great weekend by combining with De L’isle Apollo to also finish third in the final. They steadily improved throughout the show. After coming fourteenth in the first qualifier, then eighth in the second, they also took their first rail of the weekend in the championship final jump-off.

Another couple of noteworthy performances from the weekend was the combination of Tom McDermott and Alpha Activity, who won an open 1.40m class on Thursday, was second in an open 1.45m-1.50m class on Friday, then backed up to record the only double clear in the World Cup Qualifier this afternoon. Also, Mitchell Peulic and CW Conquest, who had wins in both the 1.20m open and 1.25 m Open classes.

It was a great weekend of jumping and congratulations should go to Equestrian Queensland for their organisation of the show

Below are the first six placegetter in all classes over the four days of competition.

Congratulations to all the winners and placegetters.

THURSDAY

PRYDE’S EASIFEED ARENA 1

CLASS 1: Brice Trailers – Mini-Prix Championship – First Qualifier – 1.35m

CLASS 2: IOP Rural – Open – 1.40m

CLASS 3: Hino – Future Stars Championship (6, 7 & 8 Yrs) First Qualifier – 1.25m

PEACHESTER LODGE ARENA 2

CLASS 4: Huds and Toke and Gillian Equestrian – Newcomer Championship (under 8 points) – First Qualifier – 1.10m

CLASS 5: DA Hall and Co – Young Rider Championship – First Qualifier – 1.30m

CLASS 6: Chuggy Equestrian and Davidson Equestrian – Amateur Championship – First Qualifier – 1.10m

FRIDAY

PRYDE’S EASIFEED ARENA 1

CLASS 7: Peachester Lodge – Mini-Prix Championship – Second Qualifier – 1.40m

CLASS 8: Finch Farm – Open – 1.45-1.50m

CLASS 9: Antares Australia, Calico Pony and The J’Taime – Young Rider National Series Championship – Second Qualifier – 1.30m

PEACHESTER LODGE ARENA 2

CLASS 10: K&R Plumbing Supplies – Newcomer Championship (under 8 points) – Second Qualifier – 1.10-1.15m

CLASS 11: Hino – Future Stars Championship (6, 7, & 8 yrs) – Second Qualifier – 1.30m

CLASS 12: Morning View and Hoss X – Junior Championship – First Qualifier – 1.15m

SATURDAY

PRYDE’S EASIFEED ARENA 1

CLASS 13: Langfield Lodge – Newcomer Championship (under 8 points) – FINAL – 1.15m

CLASS 14: Hino – Future Stars Championship – FINAL – 1.35m

CLASS 15: Pryde’s EasiFeed – FEI World Cup Jumping Challenge – 1.25-1.30m

PEACHESTER LODGE ARENA 2

CLASS 16: JM Equestrian – Junior Championship – Second Qualifier – 1.20m

CLASS 17: Hillcote Bulk Haulage and Tom Sedger Farrier – Amateur Championship – Second Qualifier – 1.10-1.15m

CLASS 18: Kolora Lodge and Fairview Performance Horses – Open – 1.20m

SUNDAY

PRYDE’S EASIFEED ARENA 1

CLASS 19: Brice Trailers – Young Rider Championship – FINAL – 1.30m

CLASS 20: Peachester Lodge – Mini-Prix Championship – FINAL – 1.40m

CLASS 21: Magic Millions – World Cup Qualifier – 1.50m

PEACHESTER LODGE ARENA 2

CLASS 22: WestVETS Animal Hospital – Open (Top 30 from class 18) – 1.25m

CLASS 23: Icepack – Junior Championship – FINAL – 1.20m

CLASS 24: Equilegal – Amateur Championship – FINAL – 1.20m

Results sourced from Global Entries Online