By Sally Reid
Photography: Cornege Photography, Pegasus Communications
It was a very close call, but New Zealand’s six-day Horse of the Year Show took place in March with a full quota of international FEI officials: Covid-19 restrictions were enforced the night the show ended. Within days, all further equestrian competitions were cancelled until further notice, so HOY was likely the last major sporting fixture of any type to be held in this country. The national dressage championships and ESNZ Jumping Series Finals were not so lucky.
The Olympic Cup, HOY’s most prestigious competition, was another close call: a battle between two magnificent Warmblood mares. Both jumped faultlessly in the first two rounds, over a track which caused plenty of problems: more about that below.
Two breeders in particular had good HOY results this year: Sharlene Workman of Xtreme Sport Horses in the age-group jumping, and David Woolley of DW Stud with a pair of Johnson sons in the Grand Prix dressage. There were also some great results from European-bred Warmbloods.
Olympic Cup: Absolutely fabulous Andrea!
A Holsteiner mare, imported by a man who – at the time – knew almost nothing about sport horses and their breeding, is 2020’s NZ Horse of the Year. She is, of course, the absolutely fabulous LT Holst Andrea (Casall Ask -Palaune x Lavaletto), who is a regular in BN reports from New Zealand.
Andrea was bred in Germany by Hans-Joachim Gerken of Hammoor, and is from the highly regarded Stamm 2067, which has produced a number of 1m60 jumpers. She jumped triple-clear over a course designed (appropriately) by Germany’s Werner Deeg, who has now built the HOY tracks several times. It caused other top horses to make errors, but posed no problems for the cool-headed Andrea and her rider Brooke Edgecombe, who co-owns her with Ewen Mackintosh of Lake Taupo Holsteiners.
LT Holst Andrea has been the ESNZ’s leading mare for the past two seasons and looks certain to claim the honour for a third time. She has a daughter by Clinton (LT Holst Elizabeth), and two embryo transfer daughters by Colman (LT Holst Freda and LT Holst Francis). Both Freda and Elizabeth are competing successfully here; Francis has her own very exciting daughter by Emerald, and has gone to Brooke Edgecombe to start her competition career. There is absolutely no doubt that all of these mares will play a major role in NZ breeding history.
Second place, for the second year running, went to Graffiti MH (Graf Top - Elodie x Earl) bred by Matthews Hanoverians, owned by Judith Matthews and Angela Miller, and ridden by Melody Matheson. This big mare is certainly impressive; a stand-out beauty with a terrific jumping style who came agonisingly close to winning this year after two perfect rounds, but a single rail in the jump-off.
Graffiti’s dam, Elodie, who is no longer owned by Matthews Hanoverians, had two foals for the stud: Graffiti and the nine-year-old Ballerina MH (Bonifatius), whose own filly by Fürstenball, Fendi MH (2017), was a premium foal at the 2018 Hanoverian inspection tour under Volker Ehlers. Ballerina MH also has a 2018 daughter, Graffiene MH by Graffiti’s sire, Graf Top – a very exciting prospect, and Graffiti’s three-quarter sister. She, too, has been sold.
Third place went to the NZ Warmblood gelding, Windermere Cappuccino (Corofino II - Vespa x Voltaire II), who has been such a hero for the past few seasons, and who jumped beautifully in round one. In fact, he looked invincible, but tipped a very unlucky rail in round two.
Windermere Cappuccino is owned by his breeders, the Parkes family, and ridden by Tegan Fitzsimon. His sire, the imported licensed Holsteiner Corofino II (Corrado I -Valeska IV x Fernando I), stands at Sharlene Workman’s Xtreme Sport Horses and has been enormously successful here, winning the ESNZ leading stallion title several times. He was bred in Germany by Hobe Bernhard and is from Stamm 318D2, with the blood of For Pleasure and Furioso through his damsire, as well as a duplication of Corrado I – who is not only Corofino II’s sire, but is also Fernando’s damsire.
More of Corrado I’s blood can be found in the Australian-bred Holsteiner gelding, Carado GHP (Caretino - Only You V x Corrado I), who finished fourth in this class. He was bred by Paula and Olivia Hamood of Glen Haven Park, is owned by Debbie Francis, and ridden by her teenage daughter, Annabel. He is a small but brave gelding with a very big jump, and won the Gold Tour Final at Takapoto last season, over a Frank Rothenberger course against some serious competition – including Australian entry Finch Farm Cadel (Charlemagne Ego Z x Aachen) and LT Holst Andrea, who finished second and third respectively. Carado’s dam is a studbook mare from Stamm 730B, who has a number of other sons and daughters... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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