Equestrian: No bling for NSW-bound Queen of NZ showjumping

Katie Laure rides Dunstan On the Point Eve but she yearned for virus-struck Sparky. PHOTO/Duncan Brown

You'll be hard pushed to find a Horse of the Year Show faithful who can recall in almost a decade when Katie Laurie didn't go back home from Hastings with bling in the elite classes in some shape or form.

Yesterday even the premier Olympic Cup class proved elsuive for Laurie (nee McVean) who finished in fourth place on Dunstan On the Point Eve.

"I was really happy with my horses, actually," said the 31-year-old Beijing Olympian from Mystery Creek who still didn't lose that winning smile cultivated with the help of father Jeff McVean who won the crown on Claret in 1978.

"At the beginning of the show I got a couple of seconds in the bigger classes. She [Point Eve] hasn't jumped since Wednesday so she was great out there because the two rails she touched out there she barely touched," she said of her mount who registered a clear second round yesterday.

Laurie, who has eight Olympic Cup crowns on a series of Dunstan horses and was defending champion, saluted winner Lily Tootill and Ulysses NZPH for their two clear rounds but felt luck just didn't go her way this year.

She, husband Jackson and their two children, 8-month-old son Royce, and 2-year-old Grace, 2, emigrate to Armidale City in New South Wales, Australia, on March 22.

Laurie ruled out motherhood as a distraction because when she slides into the saddle she is totally in horsey mode.

With a couple of horses left behind in Mystery Creek, she intends to return to compete in big shows in the future such as here and the World Cup Series in October.

Asked if she would have loved to finish here on a winning note last week, a laughing Laurie replied: "You always want to win, don't you?"

She said it was a shame her top horse, Sparky (Dunstan Casebrooke Lomond), couldn't start.

"He picked up a virus after winning the North Island Champs two weeks ago so he's sleeping in his stable but he'll be good to go to Australia," she said as she walked off with her 59-year-old dad, a former champion Australian showjumper.

In other classes, Steffi Whittaker, on Moonlight Glow, recorded the only double clear in the two-round Pony of the Year to clinch the Somerset Fair Cup.

Whittaker, of Christchruch, thanked her grandparents for giving her the pony.

"I told granddad before we left, if I don't get it this time I'm never going to get it," she said.

Hawke's Bay rider Ruby Mason and Mr Acho were the only combination to jump a clear second round, adding nothing to her first-round four-fault tally, to finish second.

Tyla Hackett, of Waiuku, and Gin prvailed in the Junior Rider of the Year class, making short work of the jump off with an unblemished round in a scorching 26.85s.

It was a career highlight for Abbie Deken, of Taranaki, after claiming the Dressage Horse of the Year bragging rights on KH Ambrose with a personal best in the musical freestyle.

Deken bought the John McGrath-bred KH Ambrose, a 14-year-old chestnut gelding, as an unbroken 3-year-old.

Her coach, Vanessa Way, had zeroed in on the passage piaffe work which paid dividiends yesterday.

"I had a nice feeling throughout the test and a smile on my face," said Deken. "I went into it thinking, 'let's try to enjoy it', and I did. To get the win on top of that is the icing on the cake."

Defending champion John Thompson, of Gordonton, and JHT Antonello had to settle for overall runners up with Penny Castle, of Ashhurst, on Magnus Spero, third while Jody Hartstone, of Raglan, and Ali Baba were fourth.

Pukekohe rider Caitlin Benzie, on Rosari Royal Gem, claimed the Young Rider of the Year title.

Way and NRM Andreas won the overall Advanced Dressage Horse of the Year title.

In the level 8 dressage horse of the year competition, Susan Tomlin, of Manawatu, and Dancealong were in a class of their own in clinching all three tests.