Winning family raises the bar of Australian sport

Showcase of Showjumping

Now in its fourth year, the Showcase of Showjumping series aims to introduce the sport to a broader audience, raise the standard of local equestrian events and entice more international riders.

Showjumping is an exciting sport to watch, with horses weighing up to 600kg travelling at over 40kph, jumping fences up to 1.60m high. The difference between first and second place can come down to 1/100th of a second.

The show is organised by John and Kerrie Winning from Australian family business “Winning Appliances”. Their daughter Jamie is working towards her Olympic showjumping dream, eager to follow in the footsteps of former Sydney local Edwina Tops-Alexander. Edwina, now based in the Netherlands, has been the highest ranked female showjumper in the world since 2009 and was an individual finalist at both the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Kerrie is no stranger to horses. Grand-daughter to George Ryder, the founder of the Golden Slipper, she grew up on two of Australia’s most famous thoroughbred studs, Woodlands (now Darley) and Kia Ora both located in the Hunter Valley region.

“Horses have been a part of our country’s culture for over 200 years. Many people grew up with horses and rode at grassroots level, however, as a nation we still struggle against some of the powerhouse European countries,” Kerrie says.

“We have made some inroads over the last decade and this has been enhanced by the success of Edwina Tops-Alexander. Another Sydney girl now based in Europe, Julia Hargreaves, also made the individual jumping final at the London Olympics, however our aim is to improve the standard here at home so our best riders don’t have to move overseas to compete at the elite level.”

Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where men and women compete equally against each other for individual medals.

The Spring Showcase will have two major competitions. Saturday will feature a “Boys v Girls Speed Challenge” in a dash for cash event that sure to have the crowd cheering. Then on Sunday, it’s the big one – the Gold Class final – with the added spice of some good old-fashioned trans-Tasman rivalry.

Visitors to the Spring Showcase of Showjumping can expect to see the best horse and rider combinations in the land, including three-time Olympian Vicki Roycroft, World Championship representatives Chris Chugg and Jamie Kermond, and current Australian senior champion Tom McDermott. All this while enjoying food and wine in the hospitality tents, plus the chance to win spectator prizes, walk the Gold Class course, meet the horses, and mingle with elite riders and VIPs.

The Showcase of Showjumping event held in April 2013 was Australia’s first internationally sanctioned three-star jumping competition and helped Australian riders gain ranking points with the international governing body. It was sponsored by ANZ with a prize pool of $130,000 and saw Roycroft take out the Gold Class just 10 days before her 60th birthday.