Long weekends make for great eventing, a Saturday and Sunday full of action and an extra day to relive it, just perfect!
4Cyte & Heidelberg Materials Tonimbuk International Horse Trials 2026 hosted over 400 riders for their Labour Day long weekend event (7-9 March), marking the first FEI competition on the Victorian Eventing calendar for 2026.
The star classes were contested by 65 combinations, with Tonimbuk signifying not only the start of their FEI season, but a gauge for their future plans.
Double win for Georgia Elias
Georgia Elias of Tasmania has some big plans of her own for the upcoming season, and she couldn’t have given herself a better start to reaching them when she took out wins in both the CCI3*S and CCI2*S on 14-year-old Hanoverian x Thoroughbred Silverwoods Aussie Pride and 12-year-old Westfalen x Thoroughbred Incline Park Remembrance (Fiderstern x Dresden), respectively.
Silverwoods Aussie Pride finished on his dressage score of 34.4, while Incline Park Remembrance added just 3.6 cross country time penalties to finish on 33.6.
Having sailed across Bass Strait on Wednesday night, Georgia spent the remainder of the week preparing both horses for Tonimbuk.
“The preparation paid off, with both horses delivering strong performances across all three phases,” said Georgia following the event. Their preparation has been consistent leading into their venture to the mainland, with these horses winning a 2.5* Championship at the Tasmanian State Championships and The Southern Eventing Championships.
“This gave us great confidence heading into the first international of the year,” shared Georgia. “I was impressed with how well both horses handled the challenge and dug deep across all three phases to get the job done.” Georgie now hopes to build on the momentum of Tonimbuk as she works towards the Adelaide Equestrian Festival next month.
Sam Jeffree and Santoro claim CCI4*S
The CCI4*S saw eight combinations challenge the Ewan Kellett-designed course, with placings shuffling throughout the event. Sam Jeffree took two of the eight spots on the start list, and ultimately the top two placings in the field, repeating his win from 2025 with 13-year-old Santoro (Starnberg x Regardez Moi) and claiming second place with 13-year-old Wimborne Conjuror (Contenda).
Santoro finished on 46.3, adding just time cross country penalties to his dressage score, while Wimborne Conjuror finished on 52.2 with cross country time penalties and a single show jumping rail.
Both horses are familiar with top placings at CCI4* level, especially in the 2025 season, and Sam has made good on careful preparations to ensure he can do the same in 2026.
“Both horses have started off the season feeling great and really hit the ground running,” said Sam. “Both of them went almost entirely to plan for the event, so to walk away with first and second place is really a bonus, especially for their owners.”
Sam is hoping this form can continue in the coming months, with a second run at CCI5*L in Adelaide planned for Santoro, while Wimborne Conjuror will start in the CCI4*S where he will hopefully be representing Australia on the Senior Oceania Challenge Team. From there, Sam looks forward to a possible push for a 2026 FEI World Championship preparation.
In the meantime, all eyes are on Wandin this weekend (20-22 March) where there will be more possible contenders for the Adelaide CCI5*L, as well as some serious contention for Australian Team places at the FEI World Championships at Aachen, Germany in August.
Full results from Tonimbuk International Horse Trials 2026 can be found here.
Watch the action from Wandin International Horse Trials via ClipMyHorse.TV.
