Beijing Olympic silver medallist Shane Rose took out the inaugural Exhibition Eventing title in front of thousands at the Equestrian Grand Final at Sydney Showgrounds overnight.
Beijing Olympic silver medallist Shane Rose overnight took out the inaugural Exhibition Eventing title in front of thousands at the Equestrian Grand Final at Sydney Showgrounds.
Thousands cheered on some of the country’s best stars in action with plenty of excitement including a few spills, a few near misses and overall red hot competition.
An arena-based format Exhibition Eventing captured the elements of Eventing including Dressage, Jumping and Cross Country with the key to secure the least amount of penalties in the fastest time.
Rose, riding Il Vici, took out the major prize pool ahead of Craig Barrett and Sandhills Brillaire and Dominic Karina Ingvall on Corambo.
While Rose admits that Exhibition Eventing will never replace the traditional three-day event, he said it has the potential to help grow the sport.
“By providing a taste of what the sport has to offer hopefully this (Exhibition Eventing) will open the sport up to a new audience and excite them enough to come along to our major events,” said Rose.
“It was really fun out there and the atmosphere was fantastic. It was loud and you could hear people getting behind you.”
It was a star studded field with UK based riders Clayton Fredericks (Beijing silver medallist), Paul Tapner (winner Badminton CCI4*) and Sam Griffiths (World Games representative) all riding borrowed horses which added an additional level of excitement to the night.
“It’s always challenging riding these courses at the best of times let alone on borrowed horses, so I think those guys did really well,” said Rose.
For Fredericks, his new partner tested his horsemanship skills with the “joker” fence becoming their undoing when he fell from the horse and was eliminated. He wasn’t the only one to succumb to the joker fence, with Tim Boland also eliminated due to a fall.
The Exhibition Eventing bought to a close the inaugural Equestrian Grand Final that was held as part of EQUITANA Sydney. The event attracted some of the best riders from at home and abroad, as tens of thousands packed both the arenas and stadium to catch equestrian at its best.
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
Equestrian Australia
