It was the dream of a couple of local showjumping enthusiasts to hold showjumping on the Members Lawn at Warrnambool Racecourse, Victoria, Australia but who would have thought it would become a reality! Thanks to the innovative and switched on people at Warrnambool Racecourse working with the showjumping fraternity this event has now become a regular on the Victorian Showjumping scene and one which is looked forward to by many spectators and competitors alike - coming towards the end of the Australian Summer Holidays this event combined with next week at Mortlake for the Buskers Festival Showjumping is the final before heading back to work and school for most - and what a great way to finish up - Warrnambool Racecourse and Racing folk have made the Jumping fraternity more than welcome and now in it's 5th year I have no doubt that this event has done much to bring spectators back to the track and also brought spectators to the Showjumping - both are good results for two great sports!

As always the 100+ year old kikuya members lawn was in fabulous condition and the showjumpers love this event due to this fabulous surface - it is really "grass at it's very best" - and it only took 100+ years to produce it!

The program began on the Friday evening with a Rescue Relay race which is a fun event for both riders and spectators - perhaps the only downside was the fact that there was no crowd as the race goers had all headed off for the day - but those who did stay enjoyed themselves.

The Rescue Relay saw 10 teams lineup for starters orders but unfortunately 3 teams were eliminated for jumping the courses incorrectly - the final score saw Scottie Barclay (Framfield) and Amy Graham (Untold Secret) walk away with the $300 for first place. South Australian Alex Phillips and Amy Graham took 2nd placemoney of $230 with third place going to Gina McDonald and Kirsty McMahon who split the $160 on offer. Local lads Timmy Clarke and Jamie Kermond lined up in 4th spot for their $120 and Amy Graham was again in the money this time partnering Stephen Dingwall and 7th position went to Ingrid Kimpton and Stephen Dingwall.

Above left and right: Amy Graham and Scottie Barclay show us their winning style during the Rescue Relay - this is an event which requires the riders to work together as a team and they winning team is usually the one that has communicated the best throughout the course - they can be heard calling instructions to each other throughout the two rounds jumped and this is perfectly allowable - and Scottie and Amy were certainly communicating well throughout their two rounds.

Mount Gambier's Course Designer and builder, John Wilsher was one of those who originally got this show off the ground and he continues to have his on brief in mind, when building courses at Warrnambool Racecourse and that is to make sure the crowd are entertained - and he certainly achieved that with his Rescue Relay course this year which included a liverpool which was "through the picket fence, up the hill and in front of the Members Stand" - this fence caused less problems than expected but drew the most "gasps" as the spectators often wondered just how they were going to get over the fence - but most did! Below: Amy Graham and Gary Kermond show us how it is done!

Presentation is always fun - and especially when the locals are "in the money" - above left sees Timmy Clarke and Jamie Kermond who took 3rd placing and above right sees Scottie Barclay "sharing a moment" with partner Amy Graham's horse as they wait for the official presentation in the first class of the show which saw Amy and Scottie take out first place honours. Left is Alex Phillips who also partnered Amy Graham and they took secnd place honours.

Amy Graham was definitely the busiest girl in the class partnering Scottie Barclay, Alex Phillips and Stephen Dingwall.

You may be incorrectly thinking that this event was for Young Riders but in fact we saw Timmy Clarke's parents Morris and Judy team up for the class but unfortunately they made a few errors which saw them eliminated but Morris and Timmy also teamed up ad this partnership brought home fifth spot.