Meg Lambert and her pony Soul Sister cruised to victory yesterday at the International Jumping Competition in Foxton.
Lambert and Soul Sister were the only combination of the 18 starters to go clear over all four rounds held at the two-star Wellington and Horowhenua Showjumping Championships.
Faults andtimes from the four rounds are added together to give an overall score.
Second-placed India Causebrook (Pukekohe) and Banbury Spice came home with four faults.
Sophie Burling (Northland) on Manuka Scrub and Rebecca Porter (Hastings) on Chobidong each had eight faults apiece.
Girls dominated the prizes, with Shaun Fannin (Hawkes Bay) on Air Hill Squaw the only boy in the top six.
The New Zealand team - Burling, Lambert, Olivier Robertson (Queenstown) on Sweet Addition and Mick Dee (Gisborne) on Cheblinkers - scored 16 faults, which will probably put them out of the running on the world stage.
The competition, for 12- to 14-year-old riders, is held globally, with all jumping the same course.
Results are then collated to determine finalists.
New Zealand is the first country to hold its class so will now have to wait 10 months to see who makes it through.
While the team doesn't look so hopeful, chances are high that Lambert will have booked a place to the final, where she'll pitch her talent against 19 or so other top combinations.
South Island rider Brad Cunningham (Christchurch) and Cheltenham won both the young rider and horse grand prix.
Cunningham will be campaigning hard as the season draws to a close, grabbing as many points as he can for the national leader boards.
His win in the young rider looks likely to bump him into the lead as the series culminates at the Kelt Capital Horse of the Year Show in Hastings next month.
His victories on Cheltenham were all the sweeter, as this is a horse he has brought through the grades himself.
