Gordon Bishop and Advantage Hill at Adelaide in 2023. Image by Michelle Terlato.

Gordon Bishop: The road to Adelaide with Advantage Hill

Inside Adelaide | Presented by RB Sellars

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By Equestrian Life

Having taken on the challenge four times previously, Gordon Bishop is no stranger to Adelaide five-star.

“I had Troy at Adelaide in 2003, but don’t even know how long ago it was when I had Pick of the Pack and Diamantina Drover there… I was young and silly then, and I hope I’m a little bit more sensible now that I’m about to turn 59. And I’ve just got this wonderful horse.”

That wonderful horse is Gordon’s homebred mare Advantage Hill, whom he completed the five-star at Adelaide with last year.

“She’s by a stallion that my sister [Nikki Richardson, nee Bishop] and her husband Blair bought at one of the Ryans Auctions, called Rudolph. He had good bloodlines for eventing… a bit of Brilliant Invader and Regardez Moi.

“Advantage Hill’s dam is a mare that I bought from the Turner family… she was by Sprite and had a lot of Thoroughbred blood. My mare is 5/8 Thoroughbred and 3/8 Warmblood, which I think is a really good mix. I broke her in, and I’ve campaigned her ever since.”

Gordon says he always knew Advantage Hill was destined to make it to the top of the sport. “On the day she was born, I thought I had a five-star horse. She just stood up at me and looked confident and athletic… that was on Christmas day in 2009. [Competing at five-star] has been a dream ever since.”

An uncomfortable ride

Gordon achieved that dream last year at Adelaide, although it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride. “I was trying to get myself fit and I was doing some exercises and overtrained… I half tore my groin muscle before I even got there, and then it really tore in the middle of the cross country and started bleeding internally. I couldn’t use my leg very well and I was half falling off on the drops… I messed up the main water jump and had a run off.”

Despite no doubt being in considerable pain, Gordon pushed on and finished the course. “I had to slow down but my mare kept trying for me. We then had a really good show jumping round with just one rail to finish tenth and came away with a massive sense of confidence in ourselves. It was actually a really, really productive event for us.”

Gordon says Advantage Hill’s best attribute is the fact she’s super athletic. “She’s like a cat on a hot tin roof; she’s really agile and a neat little athlete. She’s not super fast from A to B, but she has a great brain for absorbing pressure.”

Now at age 14, Advantage Hill has reached her prime. “It’s taken that long to get her to where I always hoped that we might get to. Getting to four and five star is just the start of a new journey… you then refine it and see just what the partnership can actually produce.”

The road to Adelaide

“We’ve had some good runs and I think our partnership has improved considerably in the last 12 months,” says Gordon of his lead up to Adelaide with Advantage Hill.

“We were seventh at Sydney CCI4*L at the end of last year with a clear show jumping round there and clear cross country in a reasonable time – which is the main area I’ve been trying to improve. More recently we were fourth at Tamworth CCI4*S in March. The plan was to get some cross country runs in early in the season and then wrap her up in cotton wool and not do anything late in the preparation that might injure her,” explains Gordon.

This month the pair headed to Ellerston for Scone Horse Trials, where they won the five-star combined training. “The dressage and show jumping on this amazing surface on their polo fields, it was incredible. We got to run through the new five-star test and that went well, plus we jumped clear around at five-star show jumping, which was good practice.”

“It’s a magnificent three-day event…”

“The three-day event is a different animal to the one-day event. You really have to just put one foot in front of the other and tick off each box as you go,” says Gordon.

“Adelaide, it’s  a magnificent three-day event… thanks to Gill Rolton, she was the instigator and what a legacy she’s left behind. The event is still run by passionate people and we’re very lucky that they have continued on with it. I’m lucky to be able to have another go, and just so grateful that we have this event here in Australia. It’s a real goal to pit yourself against.”

Published 11 April 2024. 

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