<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>The penultimate Bell Tea Super League class
of the current NZ eventing season took place at Woodhill Sands, north of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Auckland</st1:place></st1:city>, over the
weekend, and resulted in a win for former Olympian Heelan Tompkins, from New
Plymouth, riding Cortaflex Up N Go.</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Tompkins led after Saturday’s dressage in
the Fiber Fresh Advanced class on a score of 33.6 penalties, but incurred 11
show jumping time penalties to drop to second place overnight. The current
leader of the Bell Tea Super League series, Christen Hayde, Pukekohe, on
Tandarra Sweet As, were third after the dressage on a score of 36.4 and
incurred 4 showjumping time penalties to take the lead at that stage.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The other two competitors in this small but
select class withdrew before the cross-country, opting to save their horses for
the final event of the season, the NRM Three-day Event at Taupo on 18-20 May,
leaving Hayde and Tompkins to battle it out, knowing that only the winner would
earn worthwhile points.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Having a big buffer over the second placed
combination on the series points table gave Hayde the luxury of cruising
comfortably round the cross-country course, finishing with 21.6 time penalties
and allowing Tompkins, who had 15.2 time penalties, to win the class and the
major points on offer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The final event in the series, the CIC3* at
the NRM Three-day Event, earns double points, and attracts all the top
competitors from throughout the country, so competition will be keen as the top
three in the League will earn generous prize money as well as the prestige of
being the most consistent of the elite level eventers in the country.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span lang="EN-US">BELL</span></st1:city></st1:place><span lang="EN-US"> TEA SUPER LEAGUE</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Standings after nine events:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Christen Hayde, Tandarra Sweet As, 166 pts,
1; Donna Smith, Just Chocolate, 122 pts,
2; Jock Paget, Clifton Airtight, 117.5 pts, 3; Brent Jury, SE Big, 106 pts, 4;
Abby Lawrence, Pseudonym, 100.5 pts, 5; Donna Smith, Henton Executive, 84 pts,
6.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><em>Virginia Caro</em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><em> </em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
