Equestrian: Johnstone rides Orient Express to victory at Kihikihi

Matthew Grayling on NRM Lowenberg comes to grief at the second-to-last fence in the show-jumping. Photo / Christine Cornege

Clarke Johnstone delivered a clear show-jumping round under intense pressure to win the first equestrian three-day World Cup event at Kihikihi yesterday.

Even though Johnstone went into the ring with a rail in hand, course designer Gerrit Beker had set a tough technical challenge for the final phase which left no room for complacency.

But Johnstone looked calm and confident aboard Orient Express, and the combination produced a polished round to finish the competition on their dressage score of 45.7 penalties.

Australian Chris Burton and the impressive Holstein Park Leilani dropped a rail with one time penalty to finish second on a final score of 50.9 penalties.

Johnstone produced another clear round with one time penalty on his younger horse Incognito to also take third place with 53.2 penalties. Australian Shane Rose and Taurus dropped into fourth place after lowering a rail to finish on a score of 54.7 penalties.

Fifth place went to South Island rider Brent Jury and SE Big on 74.5 penalties, while Auckland-based Simon Gordon and Fletch.com (75.1 penalties) was sixth.

The World Cup eventing series, which takes place in eight venues around the world, now moves to Sydney on May 6-8.

- NZPA