Thrills & Spills as Carl Boonzaaier Wins 2020 Burlington Cup: 1.35m – 1.50m Show Report

While it’s no longer a national status show, the annual Burlington Cup is a must-ride show for the country’s top competitors, and this year’s event saw riders travel from no fewer than four provinces to vie for the title. With fantastic cash prizes and sponsorships from Tack n Togs, Burlington Stables, and Style Fragrances, among others, the day was highly competitive and exciting.

The 1.35m Championship, sponsored by Burlington Stables, saw 67 competitors attempt to jump their way to victory on Sunday morning. With no qualification and a generous time allowed, 33 riders made their way forward into the jump-off. With some incredibly quick combinations and 2 time-saving turn-backs, the door to victory was open to anyone willing to go for it. It was a truly spectacular jump-off with strides dropped down the many related distances and a tricky turn back to the second last fence that rewarded smooth, tight turns as well as it did outright pace. But with the final rider through the finish beams, no one could beat an incredible ride from Lara Neill on the magnificent Callaho Warmblood Stud-owned mare, Consuri, with the only sub 30 second time of 29.71. 2nd place was awarded to Jonathan Clarke riding Silhouette Park’s Luana Vd Bisschop and 3rd went to the rider from Plettenberg Bay, Ivan Van Der Sijde on Equine-Librium Filoux.

Advertisement
Advertisement
1stLara NeillCallaho’s Consuri29.71
2ndJonathan ClarkeLuana Vd Bisschop31.05
3rdIvan Van Der SijdeEquine-Librium Filoux31.91
Burlington Cup, The JumpOff, Showjumping News, South Africa,

The Tack ‘N Togs 1.40m Championship class was yet another exciting event as 22 riders tackled the Brett Webber (FEI 2*) designed track. With 2 of the first 3 riders incurring time faults, the time allowed was pushed out by 3 seconds to give the riders a new time allowed of 80 seconds. By the end of the 1st round, 7 riders successfully navigated the course clear and within the adjusted time allowed, including a number of new-to-this-height horses such as John Bouwer’s Callaho’s Lord Grannus and Silhouette Park’s Kaya Van Het Netehof.

The jump-off favoured speed more than the ability to turn on a dime, which worked in the favour of Limpopo’s Chris van der Merwe and his new acquisition, Quidchin Bellignies Z. The pair took victory in a time of 39.88 seconds. Second place was awarded to Zdenek Muchna on the Manor D’Or-owned, Saint D’or with a time of 42.09 seconds. Rounding off the podiums was Jonathan Clarke riding Kaya Van Het Netehof who jumped a beautiful double clear in her first 1.40m competition.

1stChris van der MerweQuidchin Bellignies Z39.88
2ndZdenek MuchnaManor D’or Saint D’or42.09
3rdJonathan ClarkeKaya Van Het Netehof42.24
Burlington Cup, The JumpOff, Showjumping News, South Africa,

The final competition of the day would decide the new 1.45m/1.50m Burlington Cup Champion for 2020. With several previous winners, including Chris van der Merwe, Jonathan Clarke, and Oliver Bishop, entered in the competition, the class was as exciting as everyone expected it to be, including plenty of thrills and spills. Brett Webber designed a track 13 fences in length and with enough technicality to give the riders no chance to question their decision without incurring faults. Making the competition even tougher, riders were required to up their pace to 375 metres per minute. With the first 3 riders well inside the initial time allowed, the decision was made to reduce the time allowed to 75 seconds which saw 11 competitors through to the jump-off after the first round. 

Kylie Steyn made her mark first up in the jump-off, riding Back on Track Legato, completing her round in a time of 52.68 seconds to place her fourth. Next into the arena was the Callaho Warmblood Stud’s stallion, Casparon, expertly piloted by Carl Boonzaaier who crossed the finish beams in 49.40 seconds which gave him an early lead after a flowing round that looked tough to beat. Carl sat on the sidelines, anxiously watching the rest of the class, witnessing Ronnie Lawrence and Optimus finish their round clear in 51.97 seconds while Dominey Alexander had a wonderful round on the relatively inexperienced RNR Jelle S, owned by Natalie Robertson, finishing in 51.09 seconds.

Burlington Cup, The JumpOff
2020 Burlington Cup course plan

With several rails falling from various competitors including the 2019 winner, Data Sciences Enouche RK, by the time all 11 riders had finished, Carl Boonzaaier managed to hang on the victory, earning his second title at the Burlington Cup and placing him in elite company. Ronnie Lawrence’s time was good enough to secure third, while Dominey and Jelle held on for a podium, finishing in second.

1stCarl BoonzaaierCallaho Casparon49.40
2ndDominey AlexanderRNR Jelle S51.09
3rdRonnie Lawrence Optimus51.97
Burlington Cup, The JumpOff, Showjumping News, South Africa,

-The JumpOff-

Advertisement

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.