An enthusiastic and youthful crowd filled to near capacity the indoor arena at Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC) last night, to witness the second leg of the Australian Jumping Teams League (AJTL). With a major Interschools event in full swing, the competitors by day were excited to see the jumping action provided by many of the best combinations in the country.

There was high expectation of a thrilling event and if it was even half as compelling as the first leg at Willinga Park it was going to be a fantastic night.

With only three of the four members of each team able to compete in each event, most teams made a change from their Round One Willinga Park line-ups. Here is how the teams shaped up.

Team Takapoto Estate Showjumping (TAK): Will Dight (U25), Paul Brent and Clint Beresford.
Paul Brent has his first AJTL ride, while Oivia Hamood sits this round out.

Team Martin Collins Australia (MAR): Rhys Stones, Jamie Priestley (U25) and Merrick Ubank.
Brook Dobbin did not make the trip up from Victoria, however, Merrick Ubank from Queensland takes his place.

Team Chatham Park (CHA): Kate Hinschen (U25), Amber Fuller and Tom McDermott.
Kate Hinschen comes in as the under 25 rider, replacing Amelia Douglass.

Team Yandoo Park (YAN): Jamie Winning-Kermond, Briar Burnett-Grant (U25) and Jamie Kermond.
Melissa Blair is replaced by Jamie Winning-Kermond

Team Oaks Sport Horses (OAK): Aaron Hadlow, Izabella Stone (U25) and Stephen Dingwall.
This team is unchanged from Round One with Alison Rowland waiting for her first ride.

Team Horsepower (HOR): Erin Buswell (U25), James Mooney and Clem Smith.
James Mooney comes into the team after recovering from a broken shoulder to replace stand-in Bridget Berry, while Jess Brown sits out to give Clem Smith his first ride in the series.

Team Willinga Park (WIL): David Cameron, Brooke Langbecker (U25) and Katie Laurie.
David Cameron gets his first ride in the competition while Billy Raymont sits this one out.

Team Equine International Airfreight (EIA): Gabrielle Kuna, Elliott Reeves (U25) and Chris Chugg.
James Arkins sits this round out, with Gabrielle Kuna getting her first ride.

Team Emcee Apparel (EMC): Amanda Madigan, Jess Tripp (U25) and Jennifer Wood.
Jennifer Wood replaces Jess Rice-Ward in the winning team from Round One

Team Kiernan Haulage (KIE): Brooke Campbell, Jasmine Dennison (U25) and Russell Johnstone.
This team remains unchanged so Andrew Lamb will have to wait until at least Series Round Three for his first ride.

After some competitive cheering from the youngsters from each State, Will Dight (TAK) riding Thea, kicked off the action on a beautiful looking course. We only had a short wait until the cheers rang out for the first clear round achieved by Kate Hinschen (CHA) and Finch Farm Cadel. Immediately after her, Jamie Winning-Kermond (YAN) and Yallambi’s Galliano also cleared all the rails, but unfortunately for them, they were just outside the adjusted course time of 78 seconds. Willinga Park Rider David Cameron and Finch Farm Clifford also went clear, as did AJTL debutant Gabrielle Kuna (EIA) and Flaire.

Team Emcee Apparel rider Amanda Madigan and Diamond B Vivienne added to the clears to repeat her double clear effort from the first event 2 weeks ago, and in fact, Team Emcee Apparel were yet to take a rail in the whole series. The last team of the ten to appear tonight, Brooke Campbell (KIE) and Copabella Voltage rode fantastically to record a clear round as well, despite seeming to get just a little lost at one point on their journey around the course. So after 10 rides, there were five teams tied for the lead on a perfect score of zero.

any of the teams opted to send their under 25 year old rider out second in their order, which made for exciting jumping. Two of the five teams recorded penalties, leaving just three teams tied for the lead on a perfect score. These clears were achieved by Brooke Langbecker (WIL) and Beijing LS La Silla, Jess Tripp (EMC) and Diamond B Verona (to keep Team Emcee Apparel’s perfect Series intact) and Jasmine Dennison (KIE) and Nicolossi, who completed the course over two seconds faster than any other combination.

The third combinations from each of these three teams also went clear to leave us with a three-way tie at the end of Round One. All were great rides, achieved by Katie Laurie (WIL) and Cera Caruso, Jennifer Wood (EMC) and Cassando B and Russell Johnstone (KIE) and Daprice. Amazingly Team Emcee Apparel had now had nine rides in the AJTL without incurring a single penalty.

So after Round One, there were three teams with perfect records, however as they had a faster combined time Team Kiernan Haulage were in first place, Team Willinga in second and Team Emcee Apparel had to settle for third.

The number of penalties recorded by each rider in Round One is listed below:

The team standings after round One were as follows:

Unfortunately for Team Martin Collins Australia and Team Takapoto Estate Showjumping, under the AJTL competition rules, only the top eight teams are eligible to continue on to Round Two. With only a rail separating the top five teams Round Two had all the prospects of being a real nail-biter.

First of the three leading teams was Team Emcee Apparel represented by Amanda Madigan and Diamond B Vivienne. They went clear to maintain their perfect record and remain in the lead. Next was David Cameron (WIL) who attempted to do the same, however, a few rails meant that Team Willinga Park had to surrender their share of the lead. Brooke Campbell (KIE) and Copabella Voltage took a single rail, meaning that Team Emcee Apparel still had a perfect record and were alone in the lead tonight. It was starting to look like these girls were invincible! All they had to do was keep up their perfect record and they could not be beaten.

During the next phase, where each of the eight teams still in the competition send out their second riders, the pressure was really on. Jess Tripp (EMC) who up until now had not taken a rail in the whole AJTL, had a round that they would not have been happy with, taking three rals and incurring a time penalty. This blew the competition wide open, surrending the lead to Team Kiernan Haulage. Their second last rider, Jasmine Dennison had the opportunity to consolidate their position, but, like Tripp before her, a couple of rails when they were least wanted put them back in the pack. With Team Emcee Apparel and Team Kiernan Haulage both back now on 12 penalties, the lead was overtaken by Team Oaks Sport Horses, who had only incurred nine penalties to date.

The last combination for Team Oaks Sport Horses was Stephen Dingwall and Cavalier Du Rouet. Their task was a simple one. Incur less than three penalties and they could not be beaten, even with three combinations to come. Unfortunately for his team, they took a rail to place them back in third position, leaving the door open for Team Emcee Apparel and Team Kiernan Haulage, who now again shared the lead on 12 penalties. Swings and roundabouts!

The last rider for Team Emcee Apparel, Jennifer Wood, unfortunately took a rail and with it went their chance of winning. So once again, the AJTL came down to the last combination. Team Kiernan Haulage were in the lead and would stay there if the very experienced Russell Johnstone and Daprice could get around the course while leaving all the rails intact. In fact, as they held the lead by just a single penalty, they had to be quick as well, which would not be easy, given almost half the field had incurred a time penalty in Round Two.

Perhaps surprisingly, the crowd was completely hushed as Johnstone and Daprice went about their business in a calm confident manner. As they crossed the finish, wild applause and cheering broke out as Johnstone had achieved what he had set out to do and Team Kiernan Haulage were the victors by the smallest of margins to secure the $40,000 first prize money.

At had been a fascinating night, full of drama as the lead changed hands several times. Showjumping at its best!

After Round Two, the penalty count for each rider was as follows:

Based on these individual scores, team positions and totals after Round Two were:

The final results of tonights competition are as follows:

Below is the unoffical series point score after two rounds:

We look forward to the third AJTL event, scheduled for Sunday 24 November at Sale.