Aussies end on high but showjumping glory goes to NZ

Emily Frazer and Roxbourgh compete for New Zealand in the test against Australian riders. Pictures by Paul Rickard

OLIVIA Robertson topped off an excellent Larsen Sawmilling Show Jumping Championships with a win in the biggest class of the show, the Equissage Horse Grand Prix.

Aboard Dutch-imported mare DH’s Ceniki, 21-year-old Robertson (Christchurch) won an exciting jump-off against some of the best combinations in the country.

Five of the 11 starters had gone clear on the John Vallance-designed course.

Glen Beal (Pukekohe) and his big grey Sacramento were out first, but dropped the second-to-last fence, giving them four faults in a time of 38.01 seconds.

Next came Catherine Cameron (Cambridge) and WTF Cabello, who knocked over the same fence but were a smidgen faster on 38 seconds.

Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) and Dunstan Springfield in their first grand prix after being out with injury since September, lowered that time. The rangy chestnut went clear in 36.28.

Melody Matheson (Hastings) and her big black horse, Landenfeld, also left everything up in 36.85, leaving it up to Robertson and Ceniki.

The combo responded to the pressure, delivering a beautifully clear round, stopping the clock at 36.09

“She covers the ground very quickly and can be deceptively fast,” said Robertson. “That was a very competitive class and I thought we would be hard-pressed to win after Katie and Melody had gone clear.”

Competing at grand prix level since last yearRobertson has had Ceniki three seasons, and they only started competing at grand prix level last season.

She “discovered” her while working at De Dinkel Hoeve in Holland where she heads each winter. This year she hopes to ride Ceniki’s four-year-old daughter.

As soon as the Gisborne show finished, she and her mum Jan Hunt were on the road to Wellington hoping to catch the ferry this morning.

Robertson will compete at the New Zealand Nationals with Ceniki entered in the 1.4-1.5m championship and young rider.

She is contemplating a start in the premier league at the Canterbury Champs.

But it’s young rider points she is chasing hard. Robertson is sitting second on the series leaderboard and good placings at the coming shows could make all the difference at season’s end.

Matheson and Robertson were part of the victorious New Zealand young rider team who beat the visiting Australians in a transtasman test at the Larsen show.

The win was particularly special for Robertson, who was competing in her last young rider team.

“I’ve been in six, so it was good to go out with a win.”

Laurie was chuffed with Springfield’s second place.

“He’s not the fastest but was good today,” she said. “I didn’t want to push him too hard.”

The 11-year-old will head to the nationals to contest the premier grand prix class before coming back to Hastings for the Horse of the Year Show.

Matheson, who is riding the horse for Jackie Jermyn while it is for sale, was rapt with the efforts of the 10-year-old in his first grand prix start.

The combination won the invitational 1.25m at Woodhill Sands last weekend, and she had every faith he could make his mark in the grand prix yesterday.