'Problem' wipes 100-watt smile

As Kate Strankowski and her horse Double J Chatsworth cleared the final fence at the international three-day equestrian event in Manukau yesterday, she beamed a 100-watt smile of victory.

But in a bizarre turn of events it all turned sour in a most public way soon afterwards, relegating the New York-born 25-year-old to third place.

Minutes after she thought she had won the advanced three-star class for the high point of her career, Strankowski held a lengthy press conference.

As it was finishing, and half an hour after she had dismounted, her coach Kay Meacham came across and said quietly: "There's a problem."

Strankowski, who settled in Whitford with her parents when she was 14, was found to have been too slow in completing her 15-jump round. She received 10 time penalty points and was dropped from first to third.

Victory went to Canterbury student Annabel Wigley, 21, aboard her 9-year-old bay gelding Black Drum, contesting their first three-star event.

When Strankowski entered the showjumping arena she had a 13.8-point cushion, could afford to drop rails at three fences and, provided she completed the journey inside the optimum 1min 27sec, the title was hers. She put one rail down but had no idea she had crossed the line 10sec too slow. Every second outside the required time cost one penalty point, meaning she had incurred 14 penalties.

Strankowski appealed to the ground jury, but the electronic timing told the story. "I can't believe it," she said. "Maybe I took too big a loop [approaching some jumps]. But that's horses and I've just got to deal with it."