Showjumping: McIntosh makes her mark

Samantha McIntosh, pictured above on her horse Argento W H S, won the Mills Reef Classic yesterday in the Bayleys Tauranga Showjumping Championships. Photo / George Novak

It was a cracker of an afternoon at the Bayleys Tauranga Showjumping Championship at Mills Reef Winery yesterday, with the largest number of entries since the competition began, organisers said.

The event is the last chance for riders and horses to compete before the highlight of the equestrian calendar, Horse of the Year, coming up in just over two weeks' time.

The day started with the Mills Reef Classic, where riders go one-after-the-other and are judged on speed and penalised for any rails knocked down.

Olympic rider Samantha McIntosh came out on top after her first season back in New Zealand since returning from Europe where she had been based since 1996.

That was followed by the Slalom event where two identical courses are set up side-by-side and two competitors race each other in the 16-person knockout contest.

Rebekah Van Tiel took out the slalom competition, in what show secretary Sarah King called a "convincing" win.

"She was flat out from the start."

Miss King said she was "very happy" with how the event ran, with "a good number of entries" making it their biggest yet. Miss King said organisers were very lucky to have Mills Reef Winery for a venue and had high hopes for the Horse of the Year competition. "The Bay of Plenty riders are looking very good. They're going in strong."

Competing riders said they enjoyed the different location from the usual racecourses.

Olympic rider Katie McVean said she liked riding at Mills Reef Winery.

"It's quite nice to be able to jump in a place like this."