Maree Tomkinson and Diamantina IV won the CDI-W Grand Prix at the 2012 Australian Dressage Championships on Friday with the battle for first heating up as the competition neared its end on the second day of competition at the Nationals.
Tomkinson and her 10-year old Oldenburger mare Diamantina, which she owns with Lyn Sultana, were the penultimate combination to enter the indoor arena on a day that delivered plenty of action and much more pleasant weather conditions. Tomkinson and Diamantina entered the arena immediately following Sheridyn Ashwood and Prestige VDL scored 67.021 which handed them the lead – a position that NSW combination David Shoobridge and OO Seven had held for most of the afternoon after they were awarded a score of 66.787.
Despite a strong performance, Ashwood and her 15 yo KWPN stallion’s grip over the competition was short lived after the Victorian duo of Tomkinson and Diamantina scored 67.298.
With the final combination of Heath Ryan and Regardez Moi scoring 65.234 to secure fourth, Maree didn’t have to wait long to learn that the Grand Prix title was hers.
Following her win, Maree admitted that her mare can sometimes become tense in the indoor arena and says their carefully planned warm-up away from the noise worked well to dispel her anxiety.
“She’s really noise sensitive and noise reactive so today we warmed up on one of the far arenas right away from the noise and crowds,” Maree said.
“It’s like being in the eye of the storm, if we’re very careful and we don’t hit the edges its perfect,” she added.
There’s still the GP Freestlye and GP Special to contest before this year’s National Champion is crowned but Maree is revelling the position she is in.
“I’ve been riding horses my whole life and I’ve been coming to the nationals for ten years with different horses and we’ve been lucky enough to win some young horse classes and the small tour but the Grand Prix is the main deal so if we could win that it would be very exciting,” she said.
A full weekend of dressage action awaits those heading out to the Sydney International Equestrian Centre with Saturday evening’s Grand Prix Freestlye expected to produce some stunning performances as Australia’s best battle it out for the national title.
Related Link
Scores 2012 Australian Dressage Championships
Heath Ryan Wins Intermediaire II on Day One of 2012 Australian Dressage Championships