Show Preview: 2020 South African Championships

2020 South African Championships, The JumpOff
2020 South African Showjumping Championships – Image credit: The JumpOff

After COVID threw the 2020 showjumping calendar into disarray, the time has come once again for all the best riders in the country to make their way down to The Durban Shongweni Club from November 17-24. But instead of an FEI World Cup Qualifier, this time it’s for the 2020 South African Showjumping Championships sponsored by Reonet. The prestigious event is one of South Africa’s most long-standing and is one that puts the riders through their paces to crown one rider South African Champion. Although there may be one or two sad moments forecast for this show, including the official retirement of Capital Don Cumarco, the overall atmosphere is set to be electric.

History of SA Champs

The South African Showjumping Championships date back to 1962, with the very first winner of this prestigious event being W C Angus riding Rigoletto. Since then, it has been run religiously every year, with many of the legends of South African showjumping having won the title numerous times. Names to have appeared on the trophy include Gonda Betrix, who claimed the title a record 9 times in her riding career, Ronnie Lawrence, who has won it 5 times, and Mickey Louw and Shaun Neill who have each claimed the title 4 times.

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With winners in the more recent years, including Jonathan Clarke (2015), Nicola Sime-Riley (2016), and Cathryn Neill (2018) all heading down to Durban next week, and the incredible amount of talent and competitiveness from the up-and-coming younger generation including Chatan Hendricks, Jodi Pieters, and Ivan van der Sijde, the competition for the 2020 SA Championship title will be tougher than ever.

2020 South African Championships, The JumpOff
Kelly O’Connor riding Hera van de Bien | Photo credit: Leequinee Photography

Riders to Watch

With the 2020 showjumping calendar having been inactive for several months of the year due to the global pandemic, it has been more difficult to gauge the in-form partnerships and the competitive consistency from riders. But, despite the mid-year break, the riders have all come back swinging and look set to tackle their most difficult competition yet. Unfortunately, last year’s winner, Kelly O’Connor won’t be defending her title, after her top jumper, Hera van de Bien passed away in April this year, but a number of other riders are all in with a shot.

With 37 competitors listed on the SASJ entries, including several riders entered to compete in their first 1.50m competition – such as Paige Lee Goetsch on Rathmor Quiet Man, Sandy Manasse on Carinjus, Charley-Ann Crockart on The Burgh’s Epomein, and George Coutlis on N.C.T’s Corea Fight – the competition is set to be riveting. The live streaming will also be up and running on the final day of competition for spectators to enjoy the day of showjumping nationwide.

2020 South African Championships, The JumpOff
Paige Lee Goetsch riding Biogen’s Caspar | Photo credit: Denford Studios

Nicola Sime-Riley will be looking to claim the title once again and is undoubtedly one of the show favourites as she heads down to Shongweni fresh off her win at the recent President’s Cup. With both Sunny Park Stable’s Insaghi DB and Fulvic Connoisseur in fine form and Nicola’s focus and competitiveness, this could be the year that Nicola claims her 2nd SA Champs title.

Carl Boonzaaier is another rider to keep a keen eye on. Although he and Callaho Casparon are only listed in the 1.40m classes, after the pair’s recent win at the 2020 Burlington Cup, it’s highly likely Carl will nominate up into the big grades. Carl has been on a fine run of form, both in the showjumping ring and the dressage arena this year, and could very well continue his fantastic run of form to claim his 1st SA Championship title.

2020 South African Championships, The JumpOff
Carl Boonzaaier riding Callaho Casparon | Photo credit: Pix by Alex

Jonathan Clarke (2nd place in 2019) and Govett Triggol are also two riders who can never be ruled out with their incredible pace in a jump-off, while Chatan Hendriks – who finished 2nd in 2018 on a single time fault – and Simon Hendry – who finished 3rd last year – are both long overdue a major title win after some very consistent showjumping over the last year and a half.

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As with every major title event, the 2020 South African Championships class could be claimed by any of our top-level riders as the standard of riding just keeps getting better from show to show.

Championship Rules*

Like many South African title competitions, SA Champs has its own ruleset. Unfortunately, team events have been done away with for 2020, but the individual title will still follow its traditional format.

Only the top 30 riders are eligible for the final championship class, while last year’s winner receives automatic qualification to defend their title if they do not qualify in the top 30, resulting in 31 starters for the final class. SASJ rules dictate the competition must be run over a two-round Grand Prix-style event with both rounds over the same track. However, for the second round, the course designer can change the dimensions of the fences. All athletes, barring eliminations or retirements, return for the second round in reverse order of penalties.

After two rounds, if two or more riders finish on equality of penalties for first place, a final jump-off against the clock will decide the winner. All other riders will be placed according to their penalties accumulated over both rounds of the competition and their time in the second round.

Riders are permitted no more than two horses in the event.

-The JumpOff-

*Information accurate according to SASJ championship rules at the time of writing.

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