Samantha McIntosh, pictured above on her horse Argento W H S, won the Mills Reef Classic yesterday in the Bayleys Tauranga Showjumping Championships. Photo / George Novak
It was a cracker of an afternoon at the Bayleys Tauranga Showjumping Championship at Mills Reef Winery yesterday, with the largest number of entries since the competition began, organisers said.
The event is the last chance for riders and horses to compete before the highlight of the equestrian calendar, Horse
of the Year, coming up in just over two weeks' time.
The day started with the Mills Reef Classic, where riders go one-after-the-other and are judged on speed and penalised for any rails knocked down.
Olympic rider Samantha McIntosh came out on top after her first season back in New Zealand since returning from Europe where she had been based since 1996.
That was followed by the Slalom event where two identical courses are set up side-by-side and two competitors race each other in the 16-person knockout contest.
