From disaster to equestrian glory

CLEAR AIR: Fraser Tombleson and Mea I clear a fence in the Premier League jump at the Gisborne Showjumping Championships. The pair topped a nine-horse field. Picture by Paul Rickard

FRASER Tombleson set the record straight with his classy double-clear victory in the Bayley’s Real Estate Premier League at the Larsen Sawmilling Gisborne Showjumping Championships.

Riding his grey homebred mare Mea I, he beat nine other combinations to take the honours.

Six combinations went clear in the opening round of the class – Tombleson, Emily Hayward (Te Awamutu) on Yandoo Lady Gold, Oliver Croucher (Rotorua) on Waitangi Surf, Tash Brooks (Cambridge) on former racehorse Kapattack, Tess Clark (Gisborne) on Sinatra II, and Jasmine Sketchley (Whangarei) on imported stallion Bravado Ego Z.

Sketchley and Bravado Ego Z were clear on the jumps but picked up a single time fault.

Nine combinations came back for the second round, carrying their faults.

There Sketchley was again clear but picked up another time penalty to finish on two faults. Hayward and Yandoo Lady Gold took a rail at the big “oxer” to sit on four faults, coming home in 51.68 seconds. Brooks looked on track to go clear until the second-last fence, and ended up with nine faults and out of the money.

Clark and Sinatra II took a rail to finish on four faults in 55.53 seconds. That left it all up to Tombleson, who was having a deja vu moment.

At the Spring Show in October he was in the same position, needing double clear to take the class. It didn’t go well that time and both he and Mea I ended up on the turf. He wasn’t about to let that happen again.

“I was feeling a little nervous but still confident she would jump well,” he said.

It was their first premier start, meaning fences on the John Vallance-designed course were at 1.4 to 1.6 metres in height.

Tombleson and eight-year-old Mea won the 1.4m earlier in the show, so he knew she was on form, but untested at the higher height.

“I love John’s courses. He’s very good and we are lucky to have him (at the show),” Tombleson said.

He is now setting his sights on the Horse of the Year Show, where he will contest the 1.3m, then the prestigious Norwood Gold Cup, before heading south to a wedding in Wanaka.

“I am really happy with Mea,” Tombleson said. “We haven’t done a lot this season because I’ve been busy farming, so this is really great.”

Also purring after the class was Sketchley, who with Bravado Ego Z was on debut at premier level, too. She brought her chestnut stallion home from Australia as a two-year-old.

She was over the moon with the double-clear efforts of her eight-year-old.

“I am not so worried about the time faults; you can always go faster,” she said. “It is the double clear you want.”

Sketchley is hoping to head back to Australia to compete at the end of next season. This season has been busy for her, including getting engaged.

ResultsBayley’s Real Estate Premier League: Fraser Tombleson (Gisborne), Mea I, 1; Jasmine Sketchley (Whangarei), Bravado Ego Z, 2; Emily Hayward (Te Awamutu),Yandoo Lady Gold, 3; Tess Clark (Gisborne), Sinatra II, 4; Emily Hayward (Te Awamutu), AP Ninja, 5; Oliver Croucher (Rotorua), Waitangi Surf, 6.