Riders ready for challenge

Wairarapa riders should make their presence felt at the Andrew Tulloch Contracting Wairarapa show jumping and show hunter championships to be held at Solway Showgrounds in Masterton over the three days of Labour Weekend.
Foremost among them will be Anna Stephen of Martinborough who will have her usual large team in action, including her star mount Constantine who has had a strong start to the season with wins and placings at Grand Prix level and the promising Black Boy.
Constantine will contest the Wairarapa Speed Stakes and the Cathay Pacific Horse Grand Prix while Stephen will also show a number of young horses coming through the ranks. They will compete in a variety of classes.
Nicki Booth from Whareama has entered five of her stable in either the showjumping or show hunter sections. Her well-performed chestnut mare Rouez-Rouge will compete in the 6-year-old classes while newest addition Quota NZPH will start in the 1.20m class.
Geneva Topp from Martinborough is hoping to pick up valuable national points in the junior rider classes with Guy Smiley and Airhill Brownie likely to keep her in the limelight.
Sarah Falloon from Bideford will bring her horses out for their first starts of the season now that her snowboarding commitments have come to an end. Her main chance is Country Rox who will participate in classes up to 1.15m.
The Pony Grand Prix will again be hotly contested this year with locals Morgan Percy, Jane Warren and Henry Booth providing strong competition for opposition from Wellington and Hawke's Bay.
The Labour Weekend event has drawn riders from as far north as Auckland and as far south as Canterbury. Aucklander Dani Maurer is seen as a leading contender for the Young Rider class as is Cantabrian Tegan Fitzsimons who will also be seen in the Horse Grand Prix.
Phillip and Stelly Steiner from Tauranga are travelling to Masterton after competing at the Hawke's Bay show and they could be represented by as many as 13 horses. They will be competitive in the 5, 6 and 7-year-old classes and the highly sought after Cathay Pacific Grand Prix event which holds a purse of $2000, and carries valuable national points too. Accompanying the Steiners is Josh Barker from Nelson who will compete in a range of classes up to 1.25m.
Aucklander Trudi Biggar will be in Masterton to compete in the open and amateur sections of the show hunter section and it will surprise if she is not among the major prize winners there.
The Wairarapa championships will also include a new class for amateur riders known as the ProAm rider series which has been introduced this season by the national body, Equestrian Sport New Zealand. It is for riders who are over 21 and able to compete in events from 1.20m to 1.30m. Ten riders have entered for Solway with Sharleen Workman of Wellington likely to be prominent on her two rides, Cats Whiskers and Kiwi Vibe SL.