The
Easter Autumn Racing Carnival and The Championships were a huge success for Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club. However they were not the only thoroughbred show in town !
Over at Homebush, the
Royal Easter Show was under way and
a very special thoroughbred was building his own reputation and earning the praise of his owner/rider and the admiration of the throng of horse lovers who were on hand to watch the events unfold at the
Sydney Royal. They were being treated to something special.
This is a feel good story. The type of news as racing enthusiasts, we all want to read or hear about. A story of rehabilitation of a broken down racehorse to scale new heights after a career ending injury as a racehorse.
This is the romantic ride of an
ex Dynamic Syndications thoroughbred racehorse named PERSISTENCY (by Testa Rossa x Rorkes) who suffered a career ending injury on his racetrack debut. He had bowed both tendons, but with the care, dedication and the attention of a devoted young lady,
“PERCY” as he was fondly known around the stables, was nursed back to health and soundness. Although his racing days were over, the strong and handsome thoroughbred was always the favourite of young
Courtney Smith, daughter of the
NSW Provincial Trainer of the Year –
DARREN SMITH.
Courtney pestered her dad to ask the
Team of Dynamic Syndications Owners if she could give Percy a loving home and let her train him to hopefully compete in the Show Ring.
The rest is history. The impassioned plea of a young girl so dedicated to her love of this horse resulted in a quick ring around amongst
all the Dynamic Owners with the proposition of gifting their horse to Courtney, so Percy would have a loving home and a fulfilled life post racing.
To their credit, every owner agreed to the request and Percy was gifted to Courtney.
However what was about to unfold was a dream for both Courtney and Percy.
Firstly, Courtney had to re-educated and train the horse to compete in the
Hack Class events.
That meant that Courtney had to spend countless hours teaching Percy
the art of Walk, Trot and Canter on the bit without showing any of the flighty tendencies of a fine thoroughbred. He had to be taught to move in such a manner to change direction and extend in length and perform flying changes at the instruction of the rider. He had to learn to movement (sideways). He had to learn to do these disciplines in the environment of pressure and noise of the competition ring, without faultering.
These are traits that take most horses many years to master and many simply don’t reach the standard. However Percy took to the show ring instantly. He is still a young horse today, so to grasp the concept so soon was exciting for everyone involved.
Percy started out on the local show circuit and took to the passion of competition like he had been here before.
Percy competes in the show world under the competition name
“CS – Masquerade”.
He quickly started winning on the circuit and within a short period, he had
won seven (7) different local agricultural shows, becoming Champion Large Hack at each which meant Percy and Courtney had qualified for the big league –
The Royal Show Circuit.
Along the way, Percy and Courtney competed at the prestigious
Equestrian NSW Horse of the Year Show at Bathurst where at his first try, the horse and rider finished third. As a result first and second in this event are invited to compete in the
Equestrian Australian Show Horse and Rider Championships, held in Melbourne.
“CS – Masquerade” (Percy) having finished third, became the first emergency to represent NSW. As circumstances presented, the runner-up could not attend so Percy and Courtney went to Melbourne to represent NSW at the National Championships. This was such a fantastic honour and opportunity for the pair. Although not figuring in the placings, the experience was incredible for such a young horse and rider combination as he had only been learning his new craft just over 12 months.
Having won the
mandatory seven (7) provincial agricultural shows to qualify to attend the Sydney Royal, Percy and Courtney had qualified to enter the 16.2 hand plus Novice Hack Class.
There are various class divisions in this format of equestrian sport. They are:
(*Note: In horse measurements, there are four inches to a hand and a horse is measured from the ground to the top of its wither)
Pony Class – Under 14.0 hands high
Galloway Class – 14.0 to 14.3 hand high
Hack Class – 15.0 hand high and above.
Within this Hack Class there are height divisions rising in two inch increments. That means:
15.00 to 15.2 hands high
15.2 to 16.0 hands high
16.0 to 16.2 hands high
16.2 and above
Further, there are various classes. Specifically horses who have not previously won at a Royal Show compete against each other in the
Novice Class, whilst horses who have won at a Royal Show compete in the
Open Class. Each year there is a Royal Show held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
PERCY (“CS – Masquerade”) and COURTNEY teamed up here at their first attempt at this Royal Show Novice Class – and WON!
This is highly unusual against so many seasoned horses and at the Royal Shows, they are competing against the
Best of the Best.
Having won the Novice Class 16.2 hands high and above, that allowed Percy and Courtney to compete the next day in the
Pope Cup.
Before the
Pope Cup, for his next event, Percy was teamed with another rider –
Rebecca Farrow, a former judge at the Sydney Royal and the
National Lady Rider Champion. Rebecca asked could she compete on Percy in the
Open Lady Rider over 40 class. With only a 10 minute warm up together for horse and rider to become acquainted,
(“CS – Masquerade”) Percy carried Rebecca to victory. That was two events and Percy had won both!
Later that day, with Courtney back aboard,
a line-up of fifty (50) quality horses competed for the
Pope Cup. Many had been Royal Show Champions and / or National Champions. At their first attempt at this, the young horse and rider finished in
seventh (7th) position. A wonderful feat in his first full year on the Show circuit to finish within the top ten.
Then for their final event, PERCY and COURTNEY competed in the
OPEN HACK Class over 16.2 hands high. This was the class that Percy and Courtney had qualified to compete in, having won the Novice Hack Class earlier in the week. Again the pair performed with distinction finishing in
third (3rd) position.
After the events Courtney Smith spoke with the Dynamic Syndications Team to relay her excitement of the achievements of Percy.
Courtney advised us that Percy “handled the atmosphere like a true superstar and worked the stadium down”
“Placing first (1st) in such strong competition, she felt
Percy knew what he had achieved”.
She added “He was very proud of himself trotting out on the arena with
a blue ribbon around his neck”
He knows when I praise him she said. “When I tell him he is a good boy and he did a great job in the arena, he
nodded his head and turned his head around and touches my leg with his nose.”
There was also the
win for Percy with Rebecca Farrow in the Lady Rider division and of course there was the great achievement of being sashed amongst National and Royal Champions when running third in the Open Class.
“Each day he highlighted he was a strong competitor amongst the many other seasoned horses” she stated.
Courtney was most thrilled at
“the many fans he was attracting along his way who were in awe of his expressive trot and great attitude in the loud environment.”
“He’s still a big baby and he is thriving on all the attention he is receiving.”
“I am so proud of him and the rave reviews he’s been receiving and I know he will continue on to bigger and better things to come.”