Aquis Champions Tour: The richest day in Australia showjumping

Merrick Ubank and long-time partner Alatinus, pictured here at a previous event, took out the $35,000 Gold Final.

© Michelle Terlato Photography

By Suzannah Willis

The final day of the Aquis Championship Tour had finally arrived and did not disappoint for riders or spectators. The program involved the Bronze Final, followed by the major Gold Final and last but not least the Speed Championship. First and foremost, today was the day with the most prizemoney on offer across all three classes in the main arena.

This year the show began a new initiative known as ‘DoubleTriple’ bonus, which could be applied in both the Silver and Bronze Finals. The bonus meant that a rider could choose to pay double their entry fee for a chance at triple the listed prizemoney. An example would be if a rider chose to pay the double entry fee in the bronze, which was originally $500, they payed $1000 instead. If they won the class, the original prizemoney was $3,500 however, with the ‘DoubleTriple’ Bonus it meant they could walk away with $10,500 in their pocket.

Elysian Fields looked amazing as always.

© Suzannah Willis

The Bronze Final was highly competitive with 30 horses being taken into the Final. There was a total of 10 clear rounds which were taken back into the jump-off. However, Tom McDermott and Alpha Activity took out the win in an unbelievably quick time of 41.10. Seasoned competitor, Chris Chugg and KG Queenie were just over a second behind Tom, followed by Billy Raymont and catch ride K.S. Digger. Interestingly, all three of these riders had paid the Bonus meaning the show had to pay out almost $25,000 to the top three places!

After the excitement of the Bronze Final in the morning, the Gold Final was set to begin in the late morning. There were 30 starters who were set to fight it out for the $125,000 in prize money over one of the biggest and most technical grand-prix tracks in Australia. Whilst there was no ‘bogie’ fence throughout the course, the many lines created a tough course which saw only 6 clears after the first round. However, being a grand-prix class they took back the top 10 horses; 6 clears, 2 on one time penalty each and the 2 quickest 4-faulters. After two rounds, Merrick Ubank and long-time partner Alatinus took out the win to claim the $35,000 on offer for first place. This was followed by Clint Beresford and Emmaville Jitterbug in second and Amber Fuller with CP Aretino in third. All of these riders posted double clear rounds in the Gold Final, which is huge ask of any combination however, Merrick managed to post the quickest time ahead of the others.

Clint Beresford, Merrick Ubank and Amber Fuller on the podium for the Gold Tour.

© Suzannah Willis

The final class of the afternoon was the speed derby, which involved a race up the steep Elysian Fields bank, quick roll-backs and a gallop to the last. Clint Beresford backed up his fantastic form from the Gold Final to take out the win on mount S.L Donato. New Zealander Katie Laurie took out second place despite having a fence down on Cera Caruso, which added 4 seconds to her original time.

Winner of Gold Final, Merrick Ubank, celebrating his win.

© Suzannah Willis

Overall, the Aquis Champions Tour has been an incredibly run show which drew riders from across the country. Not only were the grounds, courses and jumping of the highest standard, but outside the ring there was an abundance of food stalls and shopping. The Elysian Fields team went to a huge effort to put on social events on many nights of the show and the new initiatives for corporate team events and ‘DoubleTriple’ bonus created even more atmosphere. It is without a doubt that shows of this standard are helping to create better horses and riders in Australia, and that without trailblazers like Michelle and Peter McMahon the sport of show jumping would be a step behind.