WEEKEND STARTER: Tamborine rider Charlotte Price on Elvis G O'Reilly at the eventing.
WEEKEND STARTER: Tamborine rider Charlotte Price on Elvis G O'Reilly at the eventing. Gerard Walsh

International eventing in Warwick this weekend

EVENTING: The Pryde's EasiFeed CNC/CIC International Event will be held at the Warwick Horse Trials complex at Morgan Park this weekend.

There will be competition in six classes: one star, two star, 105cm, 95cm, 80cm and 60cm.

Event director Tracey Sexton said riders were travelling from northern New South Wales and throughout Queensland to compete.

"Many of the riders will be using the Warwick weekend as a qualifier for FEI events across the country,” she said.

"The large water jump near the entrance to the complex has been remodelled and a number of new portable jumps have been built.

"Work has been going on at Morgan Park on the course for the past two months.”

The Roycroft brothers, Barry and Wayne, will both be in Warwick for the event.

Barry is a technical delegate and Wayne will be the commentator for the cross country.

Both have competed at Olympic level. Wayne carried the flag in the opening ceremony at the Los Angeles Olympics and won two bronze medals in eventing, while Barry competed in two Olympics.

Wayne now lives in Queensland and Barry will travel from Victoria for the international event.

In the two star there are nine nominations, the most in recent times.

Former English rider Charlotte Price and Madeline Wilson will be two of the strong contenders.

Portia Wilson from New Zealand is living in Queensland and will be competing.

Jedd Johnston from Inglewood will be one of the Warwick Horse Trials Club members competing in some of the lower classes.

Brett Cantle has been one of the leading riders in the past year at Morgan Park and will compete in two star on Premonition.

Cantle is a school teacher near Gympie and fits in work, riding instruction and many eventing competitions.

There will be 18 riders in one star. With some lower-level classes, juniors will be catered for at the weekend but as individuals and not part of school teams.

The club is always looking for volunteers, especially for cross country day on the Sunday.

Entry to the event is free and patrons can watch the cross country from vantage points around the course.

All dressage will be on Saturday, with cross country on Sunday. There is usually some show jumping on the Saturday but the major class show jumping will be about lunchtime on the Sunday.

As with all international events the cross country course has been closed for six weeks, so the only time the riders will be able to view the course is when they walk it just before their event.

Eventing is one of the only sports with a different course for each event and volunteers have been working hard in the past two months to make adjustments and additions to the course.

Warwick has attracted many of the best riders in Australia to its events in the 21years since the club was formed and started work on its Morgan Park complex soon after.

The bronze-medal winning Australian team at the Rio Olympics included past club member Christopher Burton, who did a lot of his early riding at Morgan Park, Sam Griffiths, Stuart Tinney and Shane Rose, who have all been placed in classes in Warwick.

Already this year a coaching weekend has been held at Morgan Park, with all the students then competing in hunter trials on the Sunday.

A hunter trial includes two eventing disciplines, cross country and show jumping.



WARNING: Hail, heavy rain and winds to lash Warwick

Premium Content WARNING: Hail, heavy rain and winds to lash Warwick

Wild weather is predicted to continue well into this afternoon.

Killarney’s fight to save beloved health service

Premium Content Killarney’s fight to save beloved health service

KMAC has turned to crowdfunding after unparalleled stressors in 2020. FIND OUT HOW...

500 shoppers to hit Warwick in Buy From The Bush bus trip

Premium Content 500 shoppers to hit Warwick in Buy From The Bush bus trip

Their only goal is to spend cash - and lots of it - on the Southern Downs.