Thermal wind down; We at Outwoods Farm and Helen McNaught Showjumping couldn't have wished for a better start to the year or finish of Thermal.
CABALLO winning week v $30,000 grand prix. Lariccello nearly had us but the last fence left him 11th. MR WHOOPY finished an amazing 7th.
All eyes on the $300,000 class week vi which saw Caballo his consistent self, jumping clear. A couple of rails in the jump off left us 7th, and my boy very tired!
Larry a foot on the tape at the water to
finish 11th with a very capable Duncan on board, and Whoopy
having a couple of green rails in this HUGE Olaf snr. track
to further his learning and continue on his way to the top.
14 jumps plus a Quadruple combination, off a related distance, followed by 4 or 5 strides to a BIG, GAPPY SKINNY! not something you see every day.
Many Congratulations to Guy, Butch and Lu
Thomas for a brilliant 2nd place finish with Peterbuilt. I have never seen Guy
ride better than at this curcuit. WEG anyone?
And Susie Hutch, what is there to say? A
legend. Honor to see her in action, 3rd place on her talented, young stallion.
Our Ladies, were all great.
Leslie finishing in the ribbons every day with Lucy and then her new boy Piccles. Can't wait for Les to fulfil her dream of doing the Lows with one of these two.
Very consistent was Judith Chapman and Dondero. Winning or being placed every class.
Simone moving up to the Mediums saw a
mixed bag of fortunes,and, also a few ribbons with the
lovely Cardano and old maid Double Trouble,what a great learning curve.
Gretchen had an unfortunate fall, on the flat, on a Monday!!!, to leave her out of action the last couple of weeks. She'll be back fighting fit for the summer so watch out.
CAMSA,made a great return to competition. Consistently placed in some very strong level 5's and 6's she'll be back doing the Woodside Grand Prixs in the next few weeks. What a great competitor she is. Camsa is also for sale or long term lease.
DONDERO, what a star he is!!! Not only did he compete in the adult classes with his regular rider, Judith Chapman (successfully) he was 2nd, 4th in the Highs with his 'catch rider' Braydon James. In the classic, which was as big as most GPs he just had one rail. What an amazing horse for anyone wanting to learn to jump big AND be competitive.
On the sales/lease front; I was lucky enough to help several trainers and riders
find their perfect horse. Jim Hagman, Mark Bone, David Nelson, Heidi Mascray to
name a few.
(see sales and
leases page)
I
want to wish each and every one of you the best of luck with your new mounts.
Thermal Week IV
The marvellous Caballo stepped up to the plate AGAIN with a fantastic 2nd place to my good friend Guy Thomas, Caballos' former jockey in Thursdays $30,000 Grand Prix. Then Saturday in the World Cup jumped a good first round clear but trying to catch John Pearce proved to be difficult and we finished up 8th. Well done JP great win.
Dondero, with the 15yr
Canadian 'catch jockey' has been amazing. One 4th place and one 2nd place in
the High Junior Jumper speaks for itself.
Quintro de la Casa went from level 5 with me to jumping the smaller classes with his 14yr old Canadian rider. What a good boy. He loved his new job, and rider, what a pleasure to see.
Mr Whoopy was a star again in the Thursday $30,000 Grand Prix with a super clear round, sensibly ridden by Duncan to a 9th place ribbon.
The very fast Lariccello had our time on Thursday, but a couple of late rails put him out of contention.
Double
Trouble consistant as ever in the lows and level 5 classes with Simone. Cardano unlucky not
to have been in the higher ribbons, they're getting close.
Premonition with
Leslie has been super and consistant with some good ribbons in the Ch/AA
classes.
CONGRATULATIONS TO;
David
Nelson, Heidi Mascray and The Warner Family on their lease of Entourage. What a great
little horse to learn the ropes on after coming off the ponies.
H.I.T.S THERMAL 1ST HALF
What a fantastic start to the year;
Mr Whoopy three top placings in both indoor and outdoor Grand Prixs, including Thursday indoor GP 7th, Sunday 12th. What a fantastic start to his 8yr old year. He just keeps on getting better.
Lariccello 3rd Welcome Stakes, 7th Sunday Grand Prix as well as several
good placings in the 1.40 classes. A nice 'welcome home' present to us all.
Caballo has been amazing. The first three Grand Prixs last fenceitis, including the first World Cup. Last rail in 1st Sunday GP saw us finish 5th, then an amazing 3rd place in the Thursday $30,000 Grand Prix, Maclain and Goldika won from the front,we were in very good company, incredibly fast class. The Saturday World Cup saw me get a time fault, along with 4 other riders, we finished 3rd on time. Congrats to JP on an amazing ride and win with Son of a Gun.
Double
Trouble has been her consistent
amazing self with Simone, several great rides/placings in her division.
Cardano has also been a superstar getting into several jump offs.
Dondero has been placed level 6/7/5 as well as over 50s' with Judith Chapman and Lows with our 15yr old Bryn James from Canada.
Entourage has been great in the over 50 section with several ribbons as well as a win on the GP field with Helen in the level 3.
Quintro de la Casa, has been a wonderful addittion to our sales programme. Excellent rounds in all arenas, including the Grand Prix field level 5s'. Come try him before he's gone people.
Premonition has been her reliable self. Two wins several placings in the
first half she has been a great campaigner for Leslie Nelson.
Gretchen Bearing has been awesome, if we can stop the time faults!!!!! Hemmingway jumping out of his skin, and the 'old timer' Sophie jumping better and better. Watch out for these teams second half guys.