Phillip Lever and Billionaire NZPH won this year's Australian Senior Championship. Image by Click Capture.
Attracted to the gelding’s stature and kind eye, Deirdre Hartog always hoped Billionaire NZPH would develop a jump to match. Ten years on and he’s carried Phillip Lever to an Australian Senior Championship title; now the sky’s the limit.
Phil and Billionaire on their way to an exciting win at the Australian Jumping Championships. Image by Click Capture.
The Australian Senior Championship honour roll reads like the who’s who of Australian jumping. Olympians, World Championship representatives, and general Aussie legends of the sport have etched their names in the history books since the inaugural Australian Jumping Championships in 1960. Last month at Willinga Park, 38-year-old Victorian Phillip Lever added his name to the esteemed list.
Entering the final day of the Senior competition in the lead with a perfect qualifier score of 0, Phil and 14-year-old Billionaire NZPH were one of two clears in round one before a rail in round two put the pair on equal footing with Gemma Creighton and Dada des Brimbelles Z. Gemma had produced two clears but had four faults carried over from the qualifying rounds.
With the quicker round two score, Phil thought he’d clinched a narrow victory, but as he left the ring, he realised he didn’t quite have a grasp of the Championship rules (or the title)!
“There was a rule that I didn’t know about … we thought we’d done it; we thought we were home and hosed. As I left the ring they said, ‘No, they’re going to jump off again’, so the pressure was back on!” he laughs.
In the jump-off, Phil jumped clear and Gemma unfortunately had a rail. “Gemma had a bit of bad luck, and I had a bit of good luck in the end,” says Phil of the thrilling conclusion to the Championship race.
“It’s a fantastic sport! It came right down to the last… I credit everybody with that: the horses, the competitors, the course builder, the facility; it was just a real knife-edge for the Australian title, as it should be!” exclaimed Phil.
“It was just a real
knife-edge for the
Australian title…”
An overseas trip could be on the agenda for Phil and Billionaire. Image by Click Capture.
NO SPORT WITHOUT OWNERS
Purchasing the New Zealand-bred Billionaire NZPH (by Calvaro Z out of Tax Blue NZPH, by Mr Blue) as a four-year-old, Deirdre Hartog says it was the horse’s size and kind eye that captured her attention in the beginning. The impressive jump came later.
Billionaire was originally based with and ridden by Jono and Birdy Berry; when the couple relocated back to New Zealand (where they now co-run Haupouri Sport Horses) Deirdre went in search of a new rider. With the horse being a little tricky, it wasn’t easy to find the right match. However, when Phil – who had ridden horses for Deirdre previously – took the reins 15 months ago, things eventually clicked and fell into place.
“I rang Phil, and I said, ‘Do you want another horse?’, and he said, ‘Yeah, sure, thank you!’ not knowing what he was getting. Billionaire is an amazing horse, he’s so talented – but so full of quirks. It’s taken a little while to figure him out,” explains Deirdre.
She says the horse has gone from strength to strength since last year’s Australian Jumping Championships. “Phil sent me a message a couple of weeks before last year’s Championships, and said, ‘I think he should go into the Senior Championship’.”
Deirdre was holidaying in South America at the time, but a quick call to Phil confirmed he felt the horse was ready. “I was sitting up in bed at 4 o’clock in the morning, watching this horse go so well!” she recalls.
Since then, the gelding has competed at several World Cups and always placed – and now he’s carried Phil to an Australian Senior Championship title. “He’s an amazing horse, he has such a huge heart,” says Deirdre.
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL
Phil’s performance at Willinga Park captured the attention of international course designer Olaf Petersen Jr, who commented that his riding was exactly how he likes to see his courses ridden: smooth and balanced.
From Phil’s perspective, everything came together. “I felt like I had absolute control, I had him exactly where I wanted him; he let me ride him the whole way around the course, and I could just show off his jump.”
Phil, who was based in Europe and competed internationally for nearly a decade through his 20s and early 30s, has now been back in Australia for several years – however this Australian Senior Championship title win is his biggest victory to date on home soil.
With a horse that has obvious talent, the opportunity to head back overseas to compete is a serious consideration. “The sky’s the limit with this horse… we’re just going to see how far he wants to go,” enthuses Phil.
Proud of the horse she first identified potential in ten years ago, Deirdre certainly believes Billionaire could excel on the world stage – and a trip overseas is likely on the cards. “I think we’d be silly not to have a crack at that!” EQ
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