Shane Rose and Il Vici © Rachel Smith
This week is Adelaide, the biggest week in Eventing in Australia. Every Australian based rider hopes to compete there. This year with the addition of Adelaide to the HSBC Classics series there is even more on the line: ranking points and the biggest ever prize pool in Aussie Eventing.
For me, it also marks one year since I started writing for Eventing Nation. I’ve had a ball, and had the privilege of bringing you some great events including Adelaide of course, Red Hills, Sydney World Cup, Burghley and Blenheim. In between there have been my random ramblings which I have tried to keep entertaining. I even did a book review and had a competition that revealed some interesting points about the EN team and our wonderful readers.
So this week we started with argueably the best collection of Australian Eventers assembled on home soil since the Sydney Olympics. Three UK based Aussies, Clayton Fredericks, Sam Griffiths and Paul Tapner joined their home based compatriots for the first ever Grand Final of Exhibition Eventing (the Aussie version of Express or Indoor Eventing).
The early lead was taken by local Claudia Graham but the fun and games started with the jumping which included a bonus Joker fence set at 1.5m (5 feet), the eventual winner Shane Rose was the only one to clear the Joker. Clayton Fredricks got to do a live demonstration with his Point Two jacket when he had a stop and fall at the Joker.
Top results:
1. Shane Rose Il Vici
2. Craig Barrett Sandhills Brillaire
3. Dominic Karina Ingvall Corambo
4. Stuart Tinney Orchard Hill
5. Megan Jones Cavallo Park Apollo
6. Emma Mason Bijou II
Full results click here
Stuart Tinney on Orchard Hill
So as the riders make their way down to Adelaide on the day long drive from Sydney and the rest of the Country to our central southern capital. I will be there covering the action for EN. I am very excited as FESTY, Kirby Park Irish Jester has finally recovered from the illness that struck him down just before last year’s WEG. It has been slow but very exciting to see him back on the park.
We have a few international riders joining the ranks down under this year including Charlotte Price from the UK, Fabio Magni from Italy and Christan Trainor from the USA. Of course we have a big bunch of Kiwis. We have a new centre of the event at the Victoria Park Racecourse, with the main arena, plus the start and finish of XC just metres from the stables where previously they were three parks away.
It will be a fun week, happy one year anniversary of my writing EN.
Yours in Eventing,
ESJ
