HOY: Australian upstages favourites on debut

Katie Laurie.

Clint Beresford is making quite a debut at the Farmlands Horse of the Year Show.

Yesterday the 23-year-old and his horse, Emmaville Jitterbug, won the opening class in the Land Rover Premier Arena, the Prestige Equestrian 1.4m ... and that gave him plenty to smile about.

"I am pretty happy with him all right," said the Canberra-based rider of his 10-year-old gelding. "That's a good start to the show."

Beresford was early to go in the 1.4m, but set a mark others struggled to match. He and Jitterbug stopped the clock at 79.39 seconds, with second-placed Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) and Dunstan Lucca on 81.22, Laurie with her lovely grey stallion Dunstan Casebrooke Lomond third on 82.36, and eventer Clarke Johnstone (Matangi) fourth aboard Quainton Labyrinth in 85.96.

Twenty-seven started the class, giving many Kiwi riders their first taste of German designer Werner Deeg's work.

Beresford has ridden a number of Werner Deeg designed courses and is a big fan.

"He really knows how to get the horses flowing so they go a lot better by the end of the show. He gives you a bit of room out there."

Beresford had hoped to bring Jitterbug to New Zealand 12 months ago, but an injury saw him sidelined for the best part of a year. "We had done a few world cups and were going well when he got injured. We started the season in around August and he hasn't missed a beat since."

It's not the first time Beresford has competed in New Zealand. In 2014 he was part of an Australian young rider team. "We really liked it back then so it was always in our minds to come back."

However, Beresford didn't back himself to take today's class. "I knew (fellow Australian rider) James (Arkins) would be tough but I didn't know a lot of the other riders out there. Now I have seen them, I know there are some really nice horses out there and I have more of an idea of what I am up against."

Prestige Equestrian Horse 1.4m: Clint Beresford (AUS) Emmaville Jitterbug 1, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Lucca 2, Katie Laurie (Mystery Creek) Dunstan Casebrooke Lomond 3, Clarke Johnstone (Matangi) Quainton Labyrinth 4, Rachel Malcolm (Cambridge) Henton Excalibur 5, Tash Brooks (Cambridge) Kapattack 6.