World Cup winner Laurie Lever showing form on his Olympic horse, Ashleigh Drossel Dan Photograph:Nicole Taylor

Recent European jumping experience showed at the Pryde’s EasiFeed FEI World Cup Qualifying Round held at Equitana, Melbourne on Sunday with the first three horses all having campaigned in Europe earlier this year.

 

Victorian rider Laurie Lever won the class on his talented Olympic horse, Ashleigh Drossel Dan, with the horse displaying confidence and maturity after his international experience.

 

Lining up beside Laurie were fellow European travellers Chris Chugg and his Olympic reserve horse, Vivant, in second place, and Adam Mellers and Animate in third. Adam and Animate also participated in the Olympic selection trials held in Germany in June, and have returned from Europe a more experienced combination.

 

In the largest World Cup class this season of 30 horses and with the huge Equitana crowd watching, the competition between the three was just as tight as in Europe when they were vying for selection, with Laurie collecting just four faults in the first round at fence three, a 1.45m x 1.60m spread oxer which had an option of seven or eight strides coming in. Ashleigh Drossel Dan recovered well to go clear in the second round and collect the World Cup points.

 

Laurie Lever said the track was tough but it showed the depth of talent in Australian jumping.

 

“We are a long way from Europe but competitions like this prove we are not so far behind the rest of the world with a large field jumping so competitively, and if we can keep fielding competitions like this we’ll be up there with the best,” Laurie said.

 

Laurie congratulated the competitors and the show organisers, who he praised as a really good team that pulled together to make the arena surface jumpable after heavy rain and wild weather which brought unseasonable snowfalls to Victoria.

 

“It shows that with the effort of everyone pulling together we can make a world class show, even with the weather against us,” Laurie said.

 

There was huge pressure after just two riders went clear in the first round, both competitive young women on talented imported horses. Current World Cup points leader Amy Graham looked unbeatable on her impressive grey gelding Transatlantic, with Jamie Winning also in great form on her athletic bay gelding, Vangelo Des Hazalles.

 

Twelve horses were invited back into the shortened and raised second round over nine efforts, so with Jamie and Amy last to go and four other riders having already had clear second rounds the heat was really on.

 

The pressure of riding last proved too much, with both combinations collecting eight faults which pushed Amy Graham to fourth place and Jamie Winning finishing in sixth place. Queensland rider Billy Raymont, on Stardom, ended in fifth place.

 

Amy Graham admitted it had just not been her day, but congratulated all the competitors for their part in a great competition.

 

Becky Allen on Koyuna Ted rode one of the four clear second rounds, but carrying 12 faults from the first round saw them finish in seventh place.

 

Course designer, John Vallance, set a testing track of 13 obstacles with 16 jumping efforts on an 80x80m turf arena that had been lashed by heavy rain but which fortunately had dried out well with the strong winds. Sand bags had to be used to secure the wings against the gusting wind.

 

John Vallance said it was good to be able to build a tough track for a large field, testing their scope and requiring careful riding which brought out the experienced combinations.

 

The solid 1.50m track began with an open and inviting run through to fence three before a 270 degree left turn back onto a bending line through fences four to six, and a 180 degree right turn onto a huge 1.50m x 1.70m oxer set up a related line of six strides to the double at fence eight, an oxer one stride to a 1.50m vertical.

 

The treble at fence 12 had an inviting 1.45m vertical in two steady strides to an oxer with a 1.60m spread, followed by one long stride to a 1.50m vertical. Over half the class had trouble at the treble, proving that accurate riding was required right to the end and there was no let up.

 

There are just two more FEI World Cup Qualifying Rounds in the Australian League, with the competition moving to Sale this weekend and the final round to be held in Sydney in December. At the end of round thirteen, the leader on 109 World Cup points is still Amy Graham of South Australia, followed by the two Queensland riders Clem Smith on 91 points and Adam Mellers on 85 points.

 

For more information on the FEI World Cup Qualifiers and to view the current standings and the course plans go to the World Cup Jumping page.