Shake up at Top of Leaderboards

Shake up at Top of Leaderboards

There’s been a bit of a shake-up at the top of the leaderboards at the McMillan Equine Feeds NZ National Showjumping and Showhunter Championships in Christchurch today with the shock exit of the two overnight leaders.

Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) got off to a flyer aboard 2014 victor Dunstan Springfield in the opening speed round of the Excel/NRM NZ Premier Horse Championship to score a comfortable win yesterday, but today just wasn’t to be their day.

Riding in reverse order of penalties, Laurie got the class underway with just one rail down in the first round with the lovely, Dunstan On The Point Eve. Local hope Olivia Robertson (Ohoka) was next out with her big Gisborne-bred gelding Ngahiwi Cisco finishing with two fences down, followed by Laurie, this time on Dunstan Lucca, who added 9 penalties to their overnight score.

Last to go was Laurie and Dunstan Springfield, who looked on target for lovely clear round over the John Vallance-designed track until they came unstuck at the first element of the first combination and were eliminated.

Dunstan Springfield’s exit now leaves Laurie holding first and third spots with Dunstan Lucca and Dunstan On The Point Eve respectively, with Robertson in second on Ngahiwi Cisco, just over one rail behind.

The second round of the Equissage/Fiber Fresh NZ Grand Prix Horse Championship also saw the exit of overnight leader Nicole White (Invercargill) on speed demon Cricklewood Ace after taking exception to the first element of the double in the second round, having picked up 12 faults in the first round.

Laurie on Dunstan On The Point Slick Chic produced the only double clear of the seven-strong class to go into the lead with a two day total of 2.58 penalties, with Robertson chasing hard on DHs Ceniki in second on 6.66. Laurie also holds third, fourth and fifth with Luego GNZ, Dunstan On The Point Sandy and Dunstan De Boss respectively.

Perhaps the most anticipated class of the day, the Country TV/Seales Winslow NZ Open Pony Grand Prix, did not disappoint with a strong field of 16 of the country’s top combinations lining up.

Out early, former winner Lucy Turner (Broadfields) on Tallyho Mystic set the pace flying home to finish on a total of 65.47 seconds even with a rail down, which added a further four seconds to her time round time. Seven combinations later Rangiora’s Grace O’Sullivan and her nifty skewbald Galaxy Masterpiece took it to the rest of the field finishing clear in a sizzling 58.78 seconds to go into the lead.

Second to last to go, Steffi Whittaker and Moonlight Glow put in a stellar performance, but it wasn’t quite enough winding up in second place in a time of 60.95 seconds. Ally Carson and Tony The Pony were the best of the North Islanders finishing fourth on 65.48.

It’s tight at the top though with just one rail separating the top six contenders going into the second day tomorrow.

Action continues tomorrow with the second round of today’s championship classes as well as the Telford/Total Realty Rob McGregor Junior Rider and Canterbury Equestrian/Mitavite Young Rider classes, while the two premier classes have a rest day before Sunday’s finals.

RESULTS:

Second Competition Excel/NRM NZ Premier Horse Championship: Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Lucca 1, Olivia Robertson (Ohoka) Ngahiwi Cisco 2, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan On The Point Eve 3. OVERALL (after two rounds): Katie Laurie, Dunstan Lucca, 9.17, 1; Olivia Robertson, Ngahiwi Cisco, 12.42, 2; Katie Laurie, Dunstan On The Point Eve, 13.56, 3.

Second Competition Equissage/Fiber Fresh NZ Grand Prix Horse Championship: Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan On The Point Slick Chic 1, Olivia Robertson (Ohoka) DHs Deniki 2, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan On The Point Sandy 3, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Luego GNZ 4, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan De Boss 5, Angus Taylor (Ohoka) Oak As 6. OVERALL (after two rounds): Katie Laurie, Dunstan On The Point Slick Chic, 2.58, 1; Olivia Robertson, DHs Ceniki, 6.66, 2; Katie Laurie, Leugo GNZ, 7.70, 3.

First Competition Country TV/Seales Winslow NZ Open Pony Championship: Grace O’Sullivan (Rangiora) Galaxy Masterpiece 1, Steffi Whittaker (Springston) Moonlight Glow 2, Lucy Turner (Broadfields) Tallyho Mystic 3, Ally Carson (Putauru) Tony The Pony 4, Olivier Croucher (Rotorua) Delta JD 5, Scott Wylie (Invercargill) MF Spot Me 6.

First Competition Wilcox Perlas Potatoes/June Cresswell Memorial 1.30m Championship: Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Carlo 1, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Casebrooke Lamond 2, Danielle Maurer (Auckland) Supernova NZPH 3, Emma Power (Little River) Longridge Maverick 4, Tess Clark (Auckland) Sinatra II 5, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Dorothy 6.

First Competition T&M Nurseries 1.20m Horse Championship: Jamiee Bird (Ashburton) Wenrose Vertigo 1, Rosa Buist-Brown (Burnham) Bridgemere Havana 2, Gail Richardson (Invercargill) Eireann Bandoola 3, Louise Marriot (Fernside) Concur 4, Teegan McCabe (Invercargill) Trader 5, Jayne Beattie (Outram) Midnight Magic Rumble 6.

First Competition Mark Todd Collection/Platinum Performance 1.10m Horse Championship: Lisa Milliken (Queenstown) Goldsmith 1, Erin Milner (Dunedin) Glenbrooke Jordie Girl 2, Bailey Rutter (Balclutha) Kennebrook OO7 3, Maddison Thompson (Darfield) Grey Shades 4, Lisa Milliken (Queenstown) Unite NZPH 5, Lucy Brown (Queenstown) Piccolo Matteo 6.

ENDS

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