West Australian Thoroughbreds Dominate in Melbourne

What an event it was in Melbourne, with several Western Australian riders and their off the track Thoroughbreds finishing in the top 10 of their classes.

Young Event Horse Championships

The event began with the Young Event Horse Championships, which featured sponsored horse and rider, Pride of Merisi and Charlee Morton-Sharp in the five-year-old division. After a wonderfully ridden dressage test, Charlee and ‘Vegemite’ completed their jumping phase to secure themselves fifth place. Congratulations Charlee for piloting around this strikingly handsome grey gelding expertly around the Melbourne grounds to showcase his trainability and talent.

CCN1* Off the Track

Order is Restored (GI Restored Order) was the only WA Thoroughbred entered in this class. With Riley Lyall onboard, ‘Bandit’ performed a lovely dressage test to settle into fifth place. Despite his first time competing in the electric atmosphere of Melbourne International 3DE, Order is Restored kept himself composed to perform well across all the disciplines. Riley and Bandit powered through the muddy conditions to return home from cross country clear with 1.6-time penalties. This pushed them up into fourth place, where they remained following their show jumping round with only one unlucky pole knocked. Order is Restored represented Western Australia positively, flying the flag for retired racehorses based in WA amongst a very busy class of Australian Thoroughbreds.

CCI Junior/Young Rider 2*-L Godolphin Lifetime Care

Charlee was back onboard in the 2* with Ocean’s Fifteen. Despite a lovely dressage test to fit them into fifth place, this pair had an uncharacteristically tough cross country and show jumping round which dropped them down the placings. Thankfully, both Charlee and ‘Buster’ concluded the event safely and we are sure they will pick themselves up in no time.

Fellow sponsored rider, Eva Shore and her Thoroughbred stallion, Sachella Clifford Rose, also had an unfortunate run, opting to retired during dressage. With animal welfare always at the forefront of our focus, we commend Eva for taking her horse into consideration and choosing to retire before the strenuous phases of cross country and show jumping.

CCI3*-L 4CYTE

This was a highly anticipated class, with five sponsored horses and riders competing on retired Thoroughbreds.

Isobel Stevens-Menzie and her gelding, Distribute (Azarax) performed well in their dressage to slot into ninth place. After their cross country, which saw them jump clear with only 6.8-time faults, they shifted up to sixth position on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, some jumping faults in show jumping pushed them back down to their original ninth place position, managing to maintain their top ten hold.

Ellie Gough and her little Thoroughbred, Azugo, started the week off in fourteenth place after dressage. Going clear cross country with 18-time faults, Ellie and Azugo shifted into eighth place. With only show jumping left, Azugo performed well, picking up an unfortunate four faults to securing himself seventh place.

Riley Lyall returned with his seasoned eventer, Out of Line (GI War Machine) to follow up their success at Camden Equestriad with another top ten placing. After their dressage, Riley sat in fifteenth place and was able to fly up the rankings after a super cross country and show jumping round to finish in fifth place. Riley also competed in this class on his warmblood gelding, GI Caramba for tenth place.

Finally, Charlee Morton-Sharp and Super Maxi performed exceptionally across the entire event to bring home a well-earned win. After a professional dressage test, Charlee sat in third place with 32.2 penalties. Cross country was a breeze for Super Maxi, no doubt remembering his winter racing days, to fly home clear and in time. This launched Charlee into first position and heightened the pressure. Show jumping was a nail-biter, with only a small margin between the first few placings. Charlee and Super completed their entire round with their support crew riding every stride along with them to fly home clear. Super Maxi was crowned the winner of the CCI3*-L 4CYTE, along with the Best Performed Off the Track Thoroughbred and Charlee won the Caitlyn Fischer Memorial Award for the highest performing young rider.

What an achievement by our Off the Track WA sponsored riders and their horses. To have five WA based Thoroughbreds in the top ten was a true highlight for the Off the Track WA team and really highlighted how exceptional Thoroughbreds can be in disciplines such as eventing. To have a young rider such as Charlee win a class onboard her self-trained and owned retired racehorse is a monumental achievement and inspiration to all owners of retired racehorses.

Off the Track WA would like to congratulate these riders for not only their competitive riding, but also their dedication to their horses. There is no denying how wonderful a retired racehorse like Super Maxi, Out of Line, Order is Restored, Azugo, Distribute, Pride of Merisi, Ocean’s Fifteen and Clifford can be!