Australia take Senior Team Test
Sunday, 22 September 2013

20/09/2013 9:13:58 p.m. -It wasn’t a good day at the office for the senior New Zealand team competing in the 2013 Oceania Jumping Championships at Werribee.

Australia won the opening round after the New Zealand team opted not to come back for the second round when two horses pulled up sore.

Chef d’equipe John Cottle said it was difficult to have to concede, but the priority was always the horses.

Ross Smith (Canterbury) and Quite Cassini started things well for the Kiwis with a lovely clear round, but that was followed by elimination for Lisa Coupe (Kumeu) and Bates Amaretto MVNZ, 17 faults for Luke Dee (Ocean Beach) aboard Ombudsman, and eight faults for Samantha McIntosh (Cambridge) on Estina.

“We were looking at 25 faults to four, with no discard score, so the team decided not to come back.”

Smith went back for the jump-off, where he had eight faults and finished in eighth place.

It was a tough day for all. Bates Amaretto MVNZ and Ombudsman are both being looked at closely by vets and physios, and until those outcomes are known, Cottle says there will be no decisions made.

“I’m a big believer of team competitions but we have to think of the horses,” he said. “It’s very disappointing for the team but we’ve been around horses long enough to know that sometimes these things happen.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the Young Rider Oceania Championships.

Full results from the event are available at http://www.asjc.equestrian.org.au