The final class held on the main arena today at the Pet Circle Australian Jumping Championships was the feature class of the show, the Pet Circle Australian Senior Championship Final. Combinations had battled it out to qualify as one of the 21 combinations to contest the final over two preliminary rounds.

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By virtue of a second placing then a win in the qualifying classes held on Wednesday and Thursday, Jamie Winning-Kermond and the lovely mare Tulara Wat Colblensky came into today’s final on zero penalties. They are an-in form combination, who are currently running second by just a single point in the 2025 World Cup Qualifying Series with highlights of the season being a win in the Caboolture Leg and a second placing in Boneo just over a month ago.

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With Tom McDermott lurking just behind on just two penalties on each of his horses (Oaks Ventriloquist and Cooley Gangster) and a further three combinations within a single rail of the lead, the pressure to produce clear rounds was always going to be immense

In the first round this afternoon, we saw a few of retirements in the wet conditions and a number of combinations take several rails, however, four of the leading contingent each took a single rail to in essence make the final round a four-way battle.

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The first of these top four to come out were Emma Collins aboard the Oaks Sporthorses bred mare Oaks Abracadabra. Starting the round on seven penalties, they put in a great clear round to finish on seven, which placed the pressure on the last three combinations to either go clear or drop below them. Tom McDermott and Cooley Gangster were next. They took a rail which added to the six penalties they carried into the arena putting them on 10 to slot in behind Emma.

We had to wait for a while to allow Tom the opportunity to warm up his next mount, the beautiful grey gelding Oaks Ventriloquist. This is where Tom showed his coolness under pressure and class. A single mistake would have cost him a chance to take the title, however, his round was error free and he stayed on six penalties and sat in the lead for the time being.

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The last combination on course were Jamie Winning-Kermond and Tulara Wat Colblensky. If they went clear, the championship was theirs, however, if they took a single rail, Tom would be the winner. Unfortunately, for Jamie, today was not to be her day. A pair of rails fell and in an instant she was back to fourth place and Tom and Oaks Ventriloquist were the winners.

For Tom, it was the fourth time he has won the title, following on from his successes in 2012, 2019 and 2022. In fact it is the third time he was won the title from the last four times the Championships have been held at Boneo Park. As for Oaks Ventriloquist, he went one better than the second place he secured in the 2022 championship when ridden by Izabella Stone when he was ironically beaten home by Tom aboard Cachassini II.

Emma Collins and Oaks Abracadabra finished in second place, showing their liking for Boneo Park, where they won a leg of the World Cup League just last month. They are in a rich vein of form having got through this championship with just a single rail down.

In third place were Tom and Cooley Gangster. Their consistency over the past couple of years has been remarkable, finishing in third place in this championship two years ago behind Stuart Jenkins and Fairview Alicana before securing fourth pace last year behind Phillip Lever and Billionaire NZPH.

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It was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting championship to watch across the two preliminary classes and today’s final. Given next year is a World Championships year, it will be fascinating to see of any of the combinations on display today set their sights on gaining selection and if so, how they go about it.

The full list of final placings in the Senior Championship are detailed below.

CLASS 30: AUSTRALIAN SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (FINAL) – 1.60m

For full results from the final, click HERE.

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