Benalla woman Kate Rowe (right) and her horse Tulara Conneckta were part of the Redback Boots and Arrowfield Stud team that took out the Senior Teams event at the Magic Millions Showjumping on the Gold Coast on January 5. Photo: Supplied.
Benalla woman Kate Rowe and her horse Tulara Conneckta have pulled off a spectacular win at one of the biggest show jumping events on the Australian calendar.
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Competing in the Senior Teams competition at the Magic Millions event on the Gold Coast on January 5, Rowe and ‘Neckta’ were part of the four-person Redback Boots and Arrowfield Stud team that beat 11 other teams to claim the title.
Given the unique team format, with 48 riders and horses split evenly, Rowe said the triumph was a bit of a shock, but one that she would cherish for a long time.
“I definitely wasn't expecting a win,” she said.
“It was a team event, which is quite unusual for show jumping, pretty much all of our show jumping events are individual, so this was a bit different in that it was a team's event, and given a pretty even split in terms of the calibre of horses, riders and experience across the 12 teams.
“It was probably anyone's guess as to who was going to take home the win, so to do that on the day was a little bit unexpected, but definitely amazing, and something I'll remember for a long time.”
The win is made all the more special by the fact that Rowe’s inclusion in the team almost didn’t eventuate, having missed the deadline to put her name forward to compete.
“There was expressions of interest and they selected based off those expressions of interest, but mine was late, my entry,” she said.
“When I rang up they're like, ‘oh, yeah, you're a bit late but we'll put you on a reserve and see how you go.’
“I only got the phone call the week before Christmas, actually, to go up to Queensland, which was less than two weeks’ notice.
“I've never competed really in Queensland before, so it was a fair bit to organise in a short period of time to get up there and get everything organised.”
With a call-up secured, Rowe was the first rider from her team to traverse the 12 obstacles, setting the standard aboard ‘Neckta’, with the pair sharing a close bond given Rowe purchased him locally and has trained him to jump herself.
Kate Rowe aboard her horse Tulara Conneckta, after winning the Senior Teams show jumping event at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast. Photo: Supplied.
“Conneckta is — I call him Neckta for short — I've had him since he was a two-year-old,” Rowe said.
“I bought him off local stud Tulara Warmbloods in Barjarg, that's not too far out of town, and broke him in and trained him up actually in the last year jumping at World Cup level, which is the highest level of show jumping in Australia, so we definitely know each other pretty well after jumping together for so long.
“He came to vet school with me when I went up there, up to Wagga, (so) I've been riding him for a long time, but to be able to train him up, it’s quite satisfying to do it from start to finish.”
In terms of show jumping, it doesn’t really get bigger than the Magic Millions in Australia, both in terms of prize money and also crowd numbers.
Part of the wider Magic Millions Carnival which ran from January 1 to 14, there was a cool $1.45 million prize pool on offer for the show jumping element, comfortably making it Australia’s richest.
“In terms of the event, it's probably one of the biggest in Australia, it's got a massive atmosphere,” Rowe said.
“There's all the marquees and the whole racing fraternity with the polo and everything else happening, there was 5000 to 10,000 people there, so a really big atmosphere.”
Given horses are often quite easily spooked, such a large crowd and hectic environment, especially without any practice rounds, adds to the pressure of the event, Rowe said, as you can never quite be sure how your horse will react.
But there were no such problems for Neckta, who thrived in the centre of the ring.
“He was a very good boy,” Rowe said.
“He likes probably a little bit of atmosphere, it's good for him, it wakes him up a bit, whereas some of the ones that are a bit more skittish it might overawe them, but the atmosphere really suited him.”
Following their big victory, the pair has a few more competitions on the horizon, with the GDP Classic in Boneo on the Mornington Peninsula from February 13 to 16 a big target, while another World Cup event in Sale is also on the calendar.
Rowe wasn’t the only local to secure success on the Gold Coast either, with Benalla man Ryan Waddell competing in the Off The Track Showjumping Cup aboard horse Oscars, progressing to the final with the fastest qualifying time, before eventually finishing fifth.
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