Rose Clinches Victory in Sydney CCI3*

Rose clinched his second Sydney CCI3* title on Sunday aboard the appropriately named Qualified which is emerging as a serious horse for the future for the 41 year old Beijing silver medallist.

Rose’s second horse Taurus placed third but knocked four rails in the show jumping phase which was not the result that Rose had been hoping for.

“I’m a little disappointed I knocked a couple of poles on Taurus.

“Obviously he has a little bit of work to do with his show jumping but both horses need work in their show jumping. Qualified is certainly improving every time he goes out so I think he will improve from this run”.

“I’m very lucky to have a horse as good as Qualified. He just keeps getting better and better and I’m excited for him and his future.” 

After missing the London Olympic Games due to an injury to Taurus, Rose is firmly focused on adding a World Equestrian Games medal to his Olympic silver medal from Beijing.

“Hopefully there is the chance for one of these guys to make it on the team for Normandy and I’m sure it’s going to be a great Australian team. Hopefully we can bring home a medal of some sort, hopefully a few gold ones”.

“This Sydney course is probably the toughest terrain to ride on and I have ridden all over the world”.

“I would say that the going here on good weather and the terrain is actually the toughest in the world and I’m really happy with the way Qualified has pulled up from that.”

Rose and Qualified’s final score of 53.40 was well clear of second placed Jessica Manson and Legal Star who finished on a score of 68.20. The result was 21 year old Manson’s best ever placing at this level. 

With Megan Jones withdrawing her horse Flowervale Maserati prior to the show jumping phase, there was an opportunity for Rose to clinch both first and second position but 16 show jumping penalties proved costly to Taurus and his score increased to 68.80.  

“I’m not going to lie, I felt the nerves a little bit more than usual this morning but once I walked the course and warmed up I felt a lot better,” Manson said.

Fellow Western Australian, Olympian Sonja Johnson was the only rider to produce a clear show jumping round on the final day of competition but an uncharacteristic refusal on cross country day meant that Johnson’s two horses were left out of the placings and finished fourth and 10^th overall.

“I made the same stupid mistake at a fence on both horses on cross country. You know you do it once and you’re sort of pretty cross with yourself.

‘I’m going to be berating myself the whole way across the Nullarbor which is a long way to do it I must say.”

The Sydney CCI3* was an important event for Australian based event riders vying for a position on the Australian team that will compete at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France in August. Australian riders will have a second opportunity to post a good score at the Melbourne International Horse Trials while overseas riders will head to the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials to stake their claim on a team position.

Full results from all Sydney International Horse Trials eventing Classes are available HERE

26 April 2014

Sydney CCI3* Scent of victory in air for Olympian Rose

Shane Rose has victory in his sights in the Sydney CCI3* three day event and a confident performance in today's cross country phase has given the Olympic silver medallist more than a four penalty buffer leading into Sunday's show jumping decider.

Rose and his mount CP Qualified are 5.4 penalties (or one show jumping rail) ahead of Olympian Megan Jones and Flowervale Maserati who move into second position after leading at the end of the dressage phase.

South Australian Jones had a tidy performance but was marginally slower around the course which added 10.8 time penalties to her score. 

“We could have been faster but at fence four and five he backed off and I did a circle which is where our time faults came from. I was as fast as I could possibly be, and he was as fast as he could possibly be but I just couldn’t make it up after that.”

“We haven’t been competing together for that long but I trust him immensely and he jumped those fences like they were nothing and he just felt great,” she said.

Rose is also holding third position after an impeccably timed round with second entry Taurus added just 0.8 time penalties to this horse’s score. 

“It was tough out there.  Taurus went out early and at fences four and five he just had a little bit of a second thought of what he was supposed to be doing, which saw him get a little bit down on time. Other than that he was super".

“CP Qualified just keeps getting better and better with each start. Leading into the event he missed a couple of weeks with a cracked hoof so I’m pleased with how he’s gone today."

Following the cross country phase of last year’s Australian International Three Day Event CCI4* Rose was in second and third position with Taurus and CP Qualified but both horses knocked down rails in the show jumping phase which proved costly.

“I have been trying to come up with a plan to make them jump clear tomorrow, but we have done a lot of work since then and CP Qualified is always improving. Adelaide was only the third Show Jumping round he had ever done at a Three Day Event".

“I was learning a lot about him then and we certainly have taken a lot out of that".

“All going well hopefully they will both jump clear tomorrow. I have done all I can do so hopefully it goes well,” he said.

Not one combination in the field of 18 was able to complete today’s cross country course without penalty. Olympian Sonja Johnson who was third leading into the cross country phase moved down the order to fifth position after an uncharacteristic refusal at an early fence with her thoroughbred chestnut Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison added 20 penalties to their score. Johnson’s day didn’t fare any better with her second mount Belfast Mojito which picked up 40 penalties for two refusals.    

The Sydney CCI3* is an important event for Australian based event riders vying for a position on the Australian team that will compete at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France in August. 

Competition concludes on Sunday with the deciding show jumping phase.

Full results from all Sydney International Horse Trials eventing Classes are available HERE

25 April 2014

Sydney CCI3* - Jones narrowly leading Rose after Dressage

There's less than one penalty point separating the top two placed combinations in the Sydney CCI3* which commenced today at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre.

Olympic silver medallist Megan Jones leads the field after the dressage phase and has a 0.6 penalty advantage over fellow Olympian Shane Rose.

Pairing with the 13 year old gelding Flowervale Maserati, Jones finished the dressage phase on a score of 41, which handed her a marginal lead ahead over Rose, who is competing with his grey gelding CP Qualified and scored 41.60.

The team mates from Beijing are joined in the top three by Western Australia’s Sonja Johnson who was also a member of Australia’s silver medal winning three day event team from 2008. Johnson and her thoroughbred chestnut Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison are sitting on a score of 45.

South Australian native Jones has been training hard for the event and wasn’t surprised by her score.

“We’ve been working really hard this year, travelling to lots of competitions, we’ve been doing this (dressage) test over and over again, making sure to get the warm-up right and we got it right to day which I’m really happy about.

“He was a good boy and it’s great to be on top after the first day,” Jones said.  

With very little separating the top order Jones knows there’s no room for error but the 37 year old is optimistic about retaining top position.  

“If I ride it right there’s no reason why we can’t be in this position on Sunday.

“It’s a very strong (cross country) course. I walk it and I really want to go out there and do it with him. I trust him a lot, we haven’t been competing that long together but I trust him.”

The Sydney CCI3* is an important event for Australian based event riders vying for a position on the Australian team that will compete at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France in August. 

Competition continues tomorrow with cross country and concludes on Sunday with the deciding show jumping phase.

On a score of 47.20%, Tim Boland (Napoleon) leads the CCI2* and is followed by Murray Lamperd (Don Skipcello) who received a score of 49.80%. Gabrielle Pither (Max Almighty) is third with a score of 50.90%.

In the CIC2* class, Judith Clarke (Diablito) is in top position with a score of 42.20% and leads Emma Mason (Poker Face) who is sitting on 43.30% while Tim Boland (Lord Limmerick) is in third place after received 47.50% for his dressage test.

Lauren Balcomb (Guido Hatzis) is leading the CCI1* on a score of 40.30%, followed by Christine Bates (Dougal O’Reilly) in second on 46.90% and Carlene Barton (APH Merlin) in third with a score of 48.10%.

Megan Jones is also leading the CIC1* with Kirby Park Impress after scoring 47.20%. Jones leads Felicity Cribb (Feldale Regardless) who carries 47.80 penalties into the cross country round, while Rebecca Winton (Over the Limit) is in third with a score of 49.70%.

Full results from all Sydney International Horse Trials eventing Classes are available HERE

The Sydney International Horse Trials is also hosting the Greater Sydney Show Jumping event and all day one results available HERE