Former Rodeo Rider Parberry & Victory Salute Win Grand Prix Freestyle, Grand Prix at Sydney CDI3*
16 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Former Rodeo Rider Parberry & Victory Salute Win Grand Prix Freestyle, Grand Prix at Sydney CDI3*
SYDNEY, Australia, May 9–Former rodeo rider Brett Parberry on Victory Salute won the Grand Prix Freestyle at the Sydney CDI3* Saturday night following his Grand Prix first place a day earlier.
Parberry and the 12-year-old gelding on which he narrowly missed making the Australian team for the 2008 Olympics was scored on technical performance only fractionally higher than second place Rachael Sanna and Jaybee Alexander at the Sydney International Equestrian Center.
But the pair were the unanmous choice for first in artistic performance and finished with 73.500 per cent overall, ahead of Sanna’s 71.950 per cent.
Heath Ryan, Australia’s 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup representative, placed third on Byalee Magic on 68.650 per cent.
Parberry, 38, has trained and competed in Europe extensively in recent years but makes his home near Sydney.
He credited German rider and trainer Hubertus Schmidt with improvements since he and Victory Salute competed in Europe in 2008.
Parberry is a former rodeo rider who competed briefly on the North American circuit before switching full time to dressage.
Earlier Saturday, the Australian team of Rozzie Ryan and Parberry were victorious in the International Prix St Georges Derby with all 12 riders from six nations on horses chosen by random draw.
The Australian pair posted a combined score of 128.526 over Japan’s Shingo Hayashi and Tomoko Nakamura who placed second with 124.105 and the Canadian team of Rochelle Kilberg and Simone Williams were third on 121.000 in the annual competition that has been one of the fun highlights since the inaugural invitational event 17 years ago. Quarantine requirements, transportation costs and distance make importing horses for the short period of Australia’s top dressage event unfeasible.
Riders from Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand were invited this year for the small tour competition. Australian owners donate horses for the event which are assigned by random draw to give all combinations a fair shot at the title.
Great Britain finished fourth, Singapore fifth and New Zealand sixth.
Rozzie Ryan on Zest for Life was the top individual combination with a score of 64.842 per cent, Shingo Hayashi on Heatherton Park Tortilla was second with a score of 64.789 per cent and Brett Parberry on Austral Park Spellbound third with 63.684 per cent.
For complete results of the Sydney CDI3* click here go to RESULTS on the Front Page
