Report by Christopher Hector and Photos by Roslyn Neave & Derek O’Leary
Last year was year one of the fancy PR company’s grand five year plan to transform the Werribee that we’ve come to know and love. Instead we were to have the super big Badminton style event, drawing tens, nay hundreds of thousands of spectators and taking over the four-star mantle of the Southern Hemisphere.
Of course there were a few old cynics who’d seen it all before and predicted the project would end in tears. I guess even the most cynical would have given them more than one year to learn the error of their ways, but no, one show and the contract dissolved into the air, and the gee whiz PR crowd went off to find new gee whiz marketing opportunities…
So far as I can see, there is a core crowd that comes each Queens Birthday Weekend to enjoy the 3DE, come rain, hail or shine, and they were there this year again, although the percentage of young, horsey (like they were wearing jods) fans seemed higher than previous years, which bodes well for the future.
Sadly for the immediate future of Australian eventing, we were not to see one of our rising stars, Virgil, since his rider, Shane Rose got into an argument with one of his ‘breakers’ in the round yard, and ended up in hospital with broken ribs and damage to a few vital organs. Still Shane will recover (‘when will he ride again, said long suffering wife, Niki, could be two days, could be six weeks… though given the damage, six weeks looks the more accurate estimate…) and it just adds further spice to what is shaping up as a spine-tingling selection trial at Adelaide in November.
In the Pryde’s Easifeed CCI*** there were some sweetly ridden tests from the top half-dozen riders, then it started to fall away fairly dramatically. Katie Roots, riding Trevalgar II, the Fleetwater Opposition gelding she imported from the UK, ended the day in the lead on 46.6 for an elegant test that just lacked that extra oomph that we need to start scoring the sub-40s we need to cut it with the big boys in Rio next year.
Katie Roots and Trevalgar, leaders after the dressage
Western Australian, Belinda Isbister had another sweet flowing test on Holy Bruce, an off-the-track star, by Woodman, to finish on 48.
Christine Bates’ task was made somewhat more difficult on the notoriously spooky Adelaide Hill (by the Warmblood / Thoroughbred cross, Stirling Sprite) when one of the score sheet gathers ran across behind the judges boxes, with papers flapping in the wind. The chestnut looked just a little tense, and the canter suffered, but it was again, a very accurate precise show for a 48.6.
(As an aside, there was much made in web land in the lead-up, about the attempt by EA (Victoria) to limit the number of commercial photographers littering the scene by asking for a license payment. There was never any suggestion that real press photographers should have to pay to cover the event, just the ones, who like the stall holders, come to the event to make money selling their pix, which is surely not such an outrageous idea… Although one of the worst offenders when it came to coming much closer than the required 10 metres from the arena fence, was a specialist equestrian photojournalist who at one stage was practically standing on the C marker!)
Murray Lamperd was fourth on Don Skipcello (by the imported Warmblood, Donautraum) for another tidy test and a score of 50.3.
I was critical of Cara Witham’s judging at the CDI in Sydney, but here at Werribee, I thought she was spot-on in her assessment of Katja Wiemann’s BP Flamboyant (by the Hanoverian Triathlete, out of a Thoroughbred mare). It was far-and-away the most stylish of all the tests. Okay there were a couple of moments of tension, but overall the work was super, and Ms Witham scored it a 72.31%, while Lyn Roycroft had the horse on 59.81% and the Kiwi judge, Anne Tylee, was mean on 63.27%. Katja finished on 52.3, just in front of Stuart Tinney and another star in the making, War Hawk (another Warmblood/ Thoroughbred cross, this time by the Kiwi stallion Ramirez, although luckily the grey looks nothing like his dad, a somewhat old fashioned son of Ramiro) on 53.6.
Katja Weimann and Flamboyant, were they robbed?
Something very good happened between Katja’s test on BP Cosmopolitan at SIEC on the weekend on the Sydney 3DE, and her appearance with Cosmopolitan at the Trans Tasman in Taupo – Katja rode so much better, so much more sympathetically. It seems she ‘clicks’ with Eventing co-ordinator, Prue Barrett who warmed her in at Werribee with a similar result, this time on Flamboyant.
Christine Bates and Adelaide Hill had been left out of the Trans Tasman team after they were eliminated at Camden, and I guess Christine felt she had something to prove, and prove it they did in the best possible way. Clear and under time to rocket to the lead. Stuart and War Hawk were hot behind them, just 0.8 time to lie second going into the showjumping, with Katja and Flamboyant, third with just 2.4 time. Dressage leader, Trevalgar dropped down the leaderboard to 4th with 10 time.
Prue was pretty happy with Werribee as a test in the run up to next year’s Olympic Games…
“I’m pretty pleased with the result. I think we’ve got some horses here that would really suit the Olympic format, in that they are careful jumpers. I think the cross-country course that Ewan (Kellett) built was really appropriate for where we are at, and what some of those horses needed. There were some tough questions around the course, it wasn’t isolated to one area. They were able to jump a couple of bigger fences, answer a couple of questions, then get jumping again.”
“For the horses we need to jump clear rounds at Olympic Games, they need cross country courses that are going to improve them all the time, and not scare them, so I am pretty pleased.”
It was nice to see Christine’s horse answer a few of the questions that were floating around after Camden…
“Yeah – that’s the difficulty, when you get into the area where you are riding horses that are capable of winning medals at those championships, they are going to throw things at you that are a little bit more complex than what we have seen of old. Christine has worked really hard, she’s been on a plan, she’s produced the horse, and it is really nice to see her execute the plan well, and the horse will be better for it.”
Christine Bates and Adelaide Hill, home clear and under time
Stuart’s horse looked lovely…
“That horse is amazing cross country. It goes without saying, that Stuart is as well. Stuart just gets them so wanting to do it, and that horse, it stepped up to three-star last year, it’s still struggling a little with the dressage, but to see it just canter around the cross country is great.”
Stuart Tinney and War Hawk, another cross country star for the master…
Katja seems to have turned a corner at Taupo…
“I think Katja works really really hard, she’s got horses that are good movers, that are good jumpers, and it is just about tidying it all up and pointing it all in the same direction. She’s a really good rider, and it is just about having a particular focus and steering it all in the same direction.”
Such a pity we didn’t get to see Virgil…
“Big pity, I’m sure Shane’s thinking that every minute right at the moment. That horse has looked really good this year, so he was really ready to come to Melbourne. A huge disappointment for Shane, but it is not all lost. The horse has been competing really well, it didn’t have to do Melbourne to go to Adelaide. In a way it is still on track, but it is just killing Shane not to be here.”
Adelaide is shaping as a very interesting event…
“I think it will be really good. I think it will be tough in all areas. It is going to be hard to win, so there really is going to be some competition at the top.”
What do we need to do to get back on the pace on dressage day?
“We have to score sub-40. Some are, Shane did at Taupo, there is certainly the potential to do it. It is really unfortunate for Sam Griffiths to have just lost that horse because that was certainly a sub-40. We’ve got others there that definitely can do it, but they’ve got to get on with it.”
Are you going to look around for another dressage specialist to help the team?
“We’ve still got Gareth Hughes on board, and he works quite closely with the UK guys. Clearly he can’t live in two continents at once but he’s trying to come to Australia two or three times this year. I went to Taupo with the team and worked with them, and that will continue through to Adelaide. It’s a balancing act making sure everyone is getting what they need. It’s a joint effort, the dressage coaching.”
At this point I was sick of pretending that I didn’t know that Mike Etherington-Smith had signed on to become Australia’s UK based selector. The EA board has been dithering around for too long…
Good to have Mike ES on board the team?
“It certainly will be. He brings something to the table in so many areas – in the course design, he has just got experience in so many areas.”
And he is such a good people person…
“He’s great, and he just loves Australia, and Australians, that’s great.”
Andrew Cooper and Evergem Perfection, fourth with a clear clear cross country run
As if by magic, I had just finished talking with Prue, when Stuart Tinney appeared, the next victim to feed my digi recorder…
You were the unlucky one in the two-star, held up for ages when Alex Townsend was hurt when her face hit a tree branch, after that you decided your mare Queen Mary was better off going home…
“She got very cold, I was out there for 40 minutes, and when I got her back, her temperature was very low, standing around in the freezing cold. I trotted her around a bit, but I couldn’t keep her warm in that freezing wind. It’s a shame.”
Your three-star horse, War Hawk, he looked simply wonderful cross country…
“He was, he felt really classy, and very focused. He’s very good in front and quite a nice jumper so you feel quite confident coming into those verticals down hill and stuff like that. But he was very focused on the narrow jumps and he felt super.”
Despite his breeding, he is a very fine Thoroughbred type…
“He actually feels quite Thoroughbredy. He looks Thoroughbred, feels Thoroughbred, gallops well. I think on the dam’s sire he is Thoroughbred, and he has thrown to that quite a lot.”
The future?
“Still just working on him, he needs to work on his changes, that’s the main thing with his dressage – it’s getting better all the time, he is nice and trainable now. Maybe looking at Adelaide with him. He jumped around here as nice as any horse I’ve had, and he is quite confident in his ability, so I think he’s ready for Adelaide.”
Katja and Flamboyant, looking just that!
Is he your main hope for Rio?
“I’ve got Pluto (Mio), and Anna (Annapurna), and him. Pluto is still there, he’s going well, he’s ticking along at home, and he’s been in work the whole time – he’s been out showjumping – and he’ll be going to Adelaide. Same with Anna.
Three at Adelaide?
“It’ll keep me busy but I’ve done it before. Twice before actually, so it can be done.”
Is that hard mentally, re-focusing from one horse to the next?
“No it’s more physical than mental. You get used to them. They are certainly different rides, all three of them… at least it is only one course to walk!”
Thanks Stuart, and right one cue, here’s Christine Bates to tell me about her great run on Adelaide Hill…
I was talking to Jo Bridgman, that great finder of eventers in New Zealand, and she was saying that all the great ones she’d found had been quirky – if that is true, Adelaide should be the greatest super star ever foaled… I mean he puts your husband into hospital twice just in the breaking in process, and that’s just the beginning…
“Absolutely. I had a little bit of practice when I first had Newsprint, he was my introduction to the world of riding quirky horses, then along came Adelaide. He defines the word ‘quirky’.”
He was lucky to get through the breaking, I guess most people would have sacked him then…
“Yeah, and I think it is one of those things. He was lucky he ended up at my place, and I have been lucky that I’ve ended up with him. It is very much a partnership. He has all his little idiosyncrasies and quirks, but that’s what makes this partnership special. I trust him, and he trusts me. I don’t think you would normally get such a careful horse being a top four-star horse. It’s unique.”
It was a bit scary when you went down the centre line in the dressage, and some goose ran across right at that moment…
“I think the shock was that I had managed to trot a lap around the arena, canter a lap around the arena, and there was no one there between the judges’ boxes, and then I’ve cantered up the centre line, halted, it was great, trotted off, and then I realized there was at least five people standing in between the judges’ boxes, and just as I am about to turn off the centre line, a sheet collector ran, put her vest on, carrying bits of paper, and the wind caught them! Adelaide just caught it out of the corner of his eye, and he genuinely got a fright. I think most horses would have reacted to that. What was nice is that he let it go, and continued on, and the further he went, the better he got, the more rideable and relaxed he became. It was not the ideal thing to happen as you are going up the centre line.”
Tim Boland takes out the 2* on Napoleon
You had something to prove? Camden wasn’t fun… left off the team for Taupo…
“It’s been a really mixed year with him. Obviously he was not out competing last year. He had done Adelaide four star in 2013 – I hadn’t planned on riding, I’d fractured my finger quite badly, had to have surgery, then three weeks before the event, I decided I would ride him. He was fantastic, except I felt really out of practice. I hadn’t had a three-star, even a one day event run, in 18 months, and I had time faults. It still plays in the back of my head that I let him and me down by being slow. This year, his performances have been mixed. I tried a different bit on him at his first start at SIEC, and we picked up 20 penalties, the bit had actually split open his tongue, we didn’t realize until I finished, not surprisingly, he felt awful.”
“Then he came out and he won Scone three-star, went to Albury, won the two-star there, then at Camden, I didn’t ride him as well as I should have for the type of fence it was, and probably under-estimated how tough the fence was, and also forgot how sensitive Adelaide is at the first combination on course. It was very disappointing at the time but it was probably a really good wakeup call, that there are still things that I need to do in his training, because he is so careful, to keep him brave cross country. That made our chances of going to Taupo very slim. I was named as a reserve and I was still prepping him for Taupo. I thought when Tim’s horse was withdrawn, that I would be a good chance to go, but they took Isabel (English) instead.”
“It’s felt like I’ve had a few roller coaster weeks in the lead up to Taupo. Then coming into Melbourne, he had a virus ten days ago! It’s another wakeup, this is what it is like being back at that level again as an elite athlete, and the things you’ve got to deal with. On top of that we moved house last week, and being a parent, and a wife, live is manic, you’ve got to take it in your stride and keep chipping away each day.”
“After my test I was a little disappointed, he has consistently scored low 40’s all year, so to be sitting third was a little disappointing for all the work that has gone into him. In saying that, it wasn’t a bad test, I thought the judging was a little inconsistent. The surprising thing is reading the three sets of papers, is that they each saw completely different things. At that level, you’d like to think that a three-star ground jury can actually see the same things. They didn’t. I think only one judge commented on the spook up the centre line…”
A win for an Off the Track Thoroughbred in the Off the Track 1*, Koko Pop and Robert Palm
Were you always going for the time cross-country?
“Yes. I came here to win, and that’s what I plan on doing. We’d set Melbourne, right back in January as a goal. Not Sydney because when he ran at Adelaide 2013, he hadn’t had enough one day runs and he wasn’t fit enough. This time I didn’t want to take any chances with the fitness, and I thought with Melbourne being that little bit later, it gave me more time to make sure he is 100% fit – and despite having had the virus ten days ago, he pulled up amazing yesterday. He made the time easy. I was actually able to just cruise home in the last minute. I’ve just hopped on and given him a little ride to get him right for the showjumping this afternoon, and I can honestly say it is the best he’s felt at a three-day.”
“I’ve been weighing him a lot more regularly in this preparation. Swimming is part of his program, and literally since January, he has done canter / gallop fitness work every four to five days. He was really fit right at the start of the season for the one-day events. I’m trying to be a bit smarter about his weight. Over summer we had heaps of feed, so he was locked up during the day and only out at night, obviously now we’ve switched. I had to really monitor his food, but what is good is that he feels the strongest he’s ever been. Even though it is the leanest he’s been, he’s kept his topline and the muscle condition. I think he’s matured physically, he was still growing as a six-year-old. I think he is a late maturer and each event I do with him, I learn something new about him. One of the things I did yesterday, which Prue suggested, was to work him in the morning before the cross-country. I got on him to take him out to the warmup and I knew straight away, that he was – yep, off we go. He didn’t spook, he didn’t carry on. You never stop learning, and you can get better…”
Christine Bates and Adelaide Hill, what a way to win!
Now Adelaide is the name of the game?
“Yes. Originally I’d hoped to take him overseas this year, but we had to make a decision. I’ve got quite a big team of horses going at the moment, and I needed to upgrade the truck. I only had a three horse and now we’ve gone to a seven horse. So it is back to being poor again. We have to make sacrifices. Adelaide is coming back from injury, and I’ve got a great team of young horses coming up, so I felt that spending the money on the truck to get them to competitions was just as important as competing Adelaide. Look, I’ve always stayed in Australia, and as much as overseas looks fantastic – and I’ve been to all the major events around the world as a spectator – this is home and I would love to be able to do it from here.”
Christine duly jumped clear on Adelaide, Stuart dropped one to move to third, while Katja edged into second place with a lovely clear round… No doubt, all three of them will be major players next November in Adelaide, and all three will be serious contenders as we head to Rio… I think I can hear that Samba beat kicking in, right now.