BATES AUSTRALIAN YOUNG DRESSAGE HORSE CHAMPIONSHIPS - RESULTS

In the Final round, the 3 top horses in each class were ridden and assessed by Anky van Grunsven,

In the 3 and 4 year old class,  the third placing went to  Sarah Jane Wagg’s  AEA Inspector, who Anky awarded 7 for paces and 6 ½ for rideability, from Tony Uytendaal’s Wow (second), who gave a lovely ride and a score from Anky of 8 for rideability and 7 ½ for paces. The winner in this class was the flashy chestnut thoroughbred stallion, Cool Cat who was awarded 8 ½ for his paces from Anky and 7 ½ for rideability. Cool Cat only just made it into the 3-4 year old class, being just 3 weeks short of his 5th birthday. He is by the Nasrullah line imported Irish stallion Aythorpe who stood at stud in Queensland until recently.

Based on the horse’s previous round scores and Anky’s ride, the winner of the 3-4 year old class was COOL CAT

In the 5 year old class, the runaway winner was the wonderfully soft and obliging mare, Donna Carrera,. Anky obviously enjoyed her ride on the imported mare by the dressage superstar Donnerhall., who seemed to go along with everything that the rider asked of her. Anky awarded Donna Carrera 9 for rideability and 9 for movemen. From a spectator viewpoint, Anky genuinely seemed to enjoy her trouble free ride on the lovely black mare.

Second place award in this class went to the Mary Hanna owned stallion, Rituel. Anky seemed to have her work cut out keeping this fellow obediently on the aids. With his excellent breeding he attained 8 for paces and 7 ½ for rideability.

The Queensland owned mare Shimmer, by the Victorian based Flaneur stallion, Thorston, gave a lovely ride, for a paces mark of 7 and, 7 for rideability for third place.

DONNA CARRERA was the winner of the 5 year old section.

The 6 year old class was contested by horses that demonstrated their more established work and was keenly contested by three horses with talent and flair.

After the first round, the winner was the extravagant AEA Dutch Gem, to whom first prizes are no novelty, closely followed by the elastic and obedient Tavistock Florenzo and the second Susie Duddy horse, Christopher, by Salute out of the Jenny Loriston Clarke bred, Catherston Debutante, by Dutch Courage. The second round saw Tavistock Florenzo take the lead with his soft and obliging workout for popular NSW rider, Janice Usherwood.

In the final round, Christopher gave Anky the softness and attitude that saw him with the edge over AEA Dutch Gem and Tavistock Florenzo who equalled their score for second place.. The win by CHRISTOPHER in the 6 year old class, gave NSW based Susie Duddy (Marheine) her second win of the day. Susie also won the Bates Saddle, awarded by Anky van Grunsven and Sjef Jansen, for the rider who has shown his/her horse to best advantage.

Anky made a special point of congratulating Susie Duddy for the way she trained her horses, Donna Carrera and Christopher, who were both very soft, correct and responsive