By Sally Reid
Photography: Cornege Photography
The 2021 North Island Championships were held in Hawera, with Mount Taranaki – New Zealand’s mirror image of Japan’s Fujiyama – as a superb backdrop. They took place the week after the NZ National Championships, so the horses competing were a different bunch altogether, and included most of the current top names.
Two imported German horses, both ridden by their 18-year-old owner, Annabel Francis, took first and second places in the show’s big class, dominating the New Zealand Premier League. The winner, La Quinara (Ludger G - Queenie x Quality), is a ZfdP mare who has really come into her own this season, with two wins in the World Cup series. She looks like a big threat to next month’s Olympic Cup field at HOY.
La Quinara was bred by Ute and Friederich Goslar in Husum. Her mother, Queenie (Quality - Two Faces x Longford), is an Oldenburg (OS) with Quidam de Revel on the sire’s side, Landor S on the dam’s, and Ladykiller xx on both.
At the time of writing, La Quinara held second place in the ESNZ Premier League rankings, just a few points behind the horse who finished second at the North Island Championships: her stablemate and World Cup NZ League winner Carado GHP (Caretino - Only You V x Corrado I). This gelding is a 14-year-old Holsteiner from Stamm730B, bred by Bernd Fritsch in Wyk auf Foehr.
Annabel Francis imported him from Australia, where he had competed to the top levels with Olivia Hamood, who brought him out from Europe in 2010.
Carado GHP has been with Francis since the end of 2018, and has had a steady stream of success. It’s pretty hard to say which of these two horses of hers will eventually come out on top: both are simply outstanding.
And… to reinforce German domination of this class, another import finished third. This was LT Holst Bernadette (Askari - Tamara XVI Bezirksprämie x Casall Ask), bred by Reimer Detlef Hennings of Bendorf. She is from Stamm 4815, and was imported to New Zealand by Ewen Mackintosh of LT Holsteiners. She is now a 12-year-old, and is owned and ridden by Robert Steele. LT Holst Bernadette was second in the ESNZ Leading Mare rankings for 2020, behind LT Holst Andrea (Casall – Palaune x Lavaletto), imported from Germany at the same time as Bernadette by Ewen Mackintosh.
Seven-year-old win for NZSH mare
This championship title went to Chic Xtreme (Corofino II - All Gems xx x Grosvenor xx), a Sport Horse mare bred by Sharleen Workman at Xtreme Sport Horses, owned by Debbie Francis, and ridden by the super-successful young Annabel Francis. The win was the third this season for Chic Xtreme, and she is now in fourth spot on the series leaderboard. Her damsire, Grosvenor xx (Sir Tristram xx x Hermes xx), was not only a champion racehorse but also outstanding at stud. He was NZ Racing’s broodmare sire of the year in 2000; some of these mares have since produced excellent Sport Horses to Warmblood stallions, and his blood is prized in eventing pedigrees.
William Fox-Pitt’s Parklane Hawk, a five-star eventer, was the winner of the 2012 Lexington three-day event in Kentucky, and Burghley in 2011 – this horse also had the blood of Brilliant Invader xx. A full Thoroughbred by Grosvenor, Stardom xx (dam unknown) was sold to Australian rider Billy Raymont and competed up to 1m60... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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