Emily Aitkenhead and Temple of the Sun.
2022 Off The Track Boneo Park Dressage Series heats up
The recent Hi Form Autumn Dressage Championships, held 12-13 March on the Mornington Peninsula, saw the second round of the 2022 Off The Track Boneo Park Dressage Series take place – and competition is certainly heating up with just one deciding round remaining.
Inaugurated last year, the series offers competitors a share of $7000 in prizemoney as well as fabulous prizes from Pryde’s EasiFeed, and aims to help encourage riders to get their OTTs out competing in the competition arena – expanding not only the number of Thoroughbreds competing in the discipline, but also the post-racing career prospects for these talented equines.
Riders were given the opportunity to complete four tests over the two days; all test scores counted towards the overall series leaderboards, while Saturday’s two tests decided the event OTT Preliminary Championship and Sunday’s two tests decided the event OTT Novice Championship.
Claiming the Off The Track Preliminary Championship was Emily Aitkenhead and Temple of the Sun (racing name also Temple of the Sun), with the pair being the highest placed OTT entry in all four Preliminary classes. Their top score of 69.197% saw them place fifth overall in the 1B test on the Sunday against some pretty fancy purpose-bred dressage horses.
Temple of the Sun claimed the Off The Track Preliminary Championship and currently sits stop the Preliminary series leaderboard.
Following great results in two tests during round one in February, Emily and Temple of the Sun currently sit atop the Preliminary series leaderboard, where a combination’s best six scores are added together for a total ranking percentage. Also with six scores on the board and in second place currently is Fiona Barker and Penrhos Gamble (racing name also Penrhos Gamble), with the pair also completing four tests over the weekend.
In the Novice classes, there were a number of OTTs vying for the event Championship. On Saturday, Lucy Kolomanski and Peppermint (racing name Grande Jete) were the top placed OTT combination in the 2A, while Sydney Wenn and Stage Fright (racing name Whoops) were the highest placed in the 2B. In the 2C on Sunday, Lucy and Peppermint were again the highest placed, while in the 2B Simon Mamouney and Wellington (racing name Sir Plucka) achieved the highest OTT Novice score of the event to be the highest placed Thoroughbred and fourth overall in open company. The pair were named the winners of the Off The Track Novice Championship.
Looking to the overall Novice series leaderboard, Lucy Kolomanski and Peppermint have four scores to their name and sit just ahead of Simon and Wellington in second. The competition for the overall series and share of $7000 is heating up as we head into the final round at Boneo Park’s Winter Dressage Championships, held June 11-12. Stay tuned!
This article was written in conjunction with Racing Victoria.
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