DaVinci L Opens The Event With A Masterpiece

Day One: Willinga Park Dressage by the Sea CDI 4*

On the opening day of the 2019 Willinga Park Dressage By The Sea CDI4*, it was the Queensland pairing of Jaydyn Brown and Lauren George’s DaVinci L who scored a well-deserved 74.676%. This overall included two scores over 75% from two of the international judges to secure the win in the Boutique Equine Prix St Georges competition held on the magnificent Otto Sport Australia Outdoor Grand Prix Arena.

Remarkably, this pair have only been together for five months after this stunning 8-year-old gelding was imported from Germany. Well credentialled before his arrival, including winning second place in the World Young Horse competition with scores of 9’s in a number of paces, DaVinci L has enjoyed success at every level. Now, under the saddle of the talented and experienced international rider Jayden Brown, it looks like they may well be a pairing to watch. Already this pair have had success at Boneo Park, Melbourne in January, scoring above 75% in their Freestyle program.

“He got into second gear today,” said owner Lauren Brown. “With back to back CDI’s here at Willinga Park over these two weeks we are very hopeful that we might see third, fourth and fifth gear.”

Be assured if we do, it will be spectacular to watch!

Don’t look too far away from Bawley Point’s own Equestrian Olympian Brett Parbery, who placed second on board Sky Diamond with a very strong 73.471% test score. This young stallion, owned by Willinga Park’s Terry Snow has been under the saddle with Brett for a short time, and Parbery is confident they are finding their way.

“He was solid today,” said Parbery. “Some little errors that we’ll work on over the next few days, but it’s a strong start, and we’re excited for the next two weeks of competition.”

Across all the classes today there were some excellent scores:

• Robbie McKinnon and Silmarillion with 69.444% into win the Medium 4A
• Susan Elekessy and ‘Don Rubin’ with 68.824% to secure the Intermediate II CDN title
• Nicole Tough and ‘Ferragamo’ earned a well deserved 70.329% to take out the Advanced 5A class in a very strong field

Perhaps the answer to the strong scoring can be attributed to this comment from Michelle Baker who scored 70.206% to be fourth in the Prix St Georges competition. “When you come to this amazing place, you just want to ride well. The Otto surface is amazing, the atmosphere is incredible; everyone is so happy and thrilled to be here, it’s as good as anything anywhere in the world.”

Competition has commenced today with the Intermediate 1 in the Indoor arena followed by high-quality Dressage in the Indoor and Grand Prix arenas, culminating with the first Australian CDI4* Grand Prix on the Otto Outdoor Arena at 4.25pm today.

Article courtesy of Willinga Park