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Victory for Parbery at Dressage with the Stars
Werribee VIC, Australia
Brett Parbery and Victory Salute were the clear winners of the CDI 2* Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at PSI Dressage and Jumping with the Stars (DJWTS) in Werribee last weekend. PSI (Performance Sales International) Dressage and Jumping with the Stars was held at Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre 26 - 29 March 2009. The cream of Australia's young Dressage and Jumping horses competed over the three days as well as the Grand Prix horses in the CDI 2*. With the absence of some of the other top horses the Grand Prix classes were a little light-on this year. Heath Ryan has taken Regardez Moi to the USA for the FEI World Cup Final, Rachael Sanna kept Jaybee Alabaster at home with a minor injury, Mary Hanna is also allowing Tango V to recover from an illness and Rozzie Ryan and Donna Carrera were unable to attend. Victory Salute who is owned by Carolyn Lieutenant of Galston, NSW, was the obvious favourite to win the Grand Prix classes and he did it in style, winning the Freestyle by 8.25%. In second place to Brett in the Grand Prix were Charlotte Pedersen (Macedon, Vic) and Come to Me. Runner-up in the Grand Prix Freestyle, which is performed to music of the rider's choice, was Dr. Kerry Mack (Plenty, Vic) riding Mayfield Pzazz. Brett, who hails from Penrose in NSW Southern Highlands, was disappointed not to be included in the 2008 Olympic Team on Victory Salute and will be hoping that continued good performances will put him in strong contention for next year's World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. He may have missed Olympic selection with Brett but 12-year-old Victory Salute partnered Georgia Bruce to two individual Bronze medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games "It is nice to be competing Sam (Victory Salute) again, he is a great horse and is improving all the time. I love riding him," commented Brett. The program of DJWTS also included the Prix St Georges Cup. The top twelve horses from the Prix St Georges go through to the Inter 1 Freestyle. The winner of the Freestyle wins the Prix St Georges Cup. This year the Cup belonged to Nicholas Fyffe of Arcadia, NSW riding Ferrero Rocher. Visiting star German triple Olympic Gold Medallist Monica Theodorescu unfortunately came down with a bad flu and was not able to conduct the Saddleworld Masterclass nor ride the young Dressage horses to select the Champion of Champions, as was planned. To the great relief of the organisers, Danish Olympic rider and trainer Lone Jorgensen was in the audience and graciously took the Saddleworld Masterclass on Monica's behalf. Another guest star PSI's Dr. Ulf Moeller also stepped in to save the day by judging the Young Dressage Horse Champion of Champions, awarding the prestigious title to Mary and Rob Hanna's exceptional stallion Shiraz Black ridden by Mary's daughter Gitte Donvig. The winners of the 5-year-old (Belcam Cadel ridden by Bianca Barnes) and 6-year-old Dressage Championship (Shiraz Black ridden by Gitte Donvig) are eligible for selection to represent Australia at the World Young Horse Championships later in the year in Germany. The Young Jumper judges were Arno Neessen, who competed on twelve Dutch Nations Cup teams, Australian trainer Brian Cheffers, who has been based in Belgium for many years, and international course designer, Leeson Sirett. The Four-Year-Old winner was James Harvey's Patangas Oberon (an Irish Sport Horse by Blue Diamond), Russell Johnstone won the Five-Year-Old Championship this year with his TEP Clover Flush gelding, Carlo and the Six-Year-Old winner was Tim Clarke and Cherie Edmunds' Contango II mare Coltango. The Seven-Year-Old Champion went to Des Russell's Valhalla 3 ridden by Jamie Kurmond. The age group champions were given a final ridden assessment by Australia's 2008 Olympic Jumping rider Matt Williams. Valhalla 3 (a grey imported Quattro stallion out of a Clinton mare) was declared Young Jumping Horse Champion of Champions. DJWTS is a unique event showcasing the best of Australia's Dressage and Jumping bloodstock and is an event not to be missed. So mark you calendar for 18 - 20 March 2010. | ||
