Author: Sophie Wood

Tuesday 24th September 2024

The 2024 ABCRA Australian Campdraft Championships kicks off 6 days of Campdrafting action in North Star

The ABCRA National Finals Campdraft week has kicked off in style in North Star, NSW with the opening day already seeing some fantastic runs on the board across two Australian Campdraft Championship (ACC) events.

First underway was Round 1 of the Tait Auto Group Novice A, where Codie Law aboard YARRAWA TOP GUN quickly took the lead with a score of 89. A line of superb cattle ensured scores throughout the day remained high, with seven combinations on 88 points not far behind him.

The Impulse Print Encouragement Campdraft kicked off in the early afternoon, with young Dorrigo competitor Lace Burns aboard AC WAGON WHEEL securing the first win of the week on a score of 87. Equal 2nd and 3rd were awarded to Monique Dewson on STAR and Kyla Fowler on SOLAR TWIGGY, both on 80 points. In 4th place was Harley McIlveen on KP HYDRIVE FINN with a 78 and 5th place was Hannah Law on YARRAWA ESCORT on 76.

Day 1 finished with the hotly contested Tait Auto Group Novice A Final, where 20 competitors gave it all – but it was Tamworth competitor Wyatt Young on Jeremy Shaw’s JUST AS PROUD who left their mark with a 90 point ride, adding to their first round score of 88 to take the top honours with an aggregate of 178. Just one point behind him in 2nd place was Jack Kable on LYNX (177), followed in 3rd place by Ted Fogarty on TILLER TUNE (174), 4th place was Norma Jones on RJ (171) and 5th was Johnathon McDonald on JAZZ (169).

The contest for National titles now begins, following the back number presentation and draw selection tonight. All 9 National Final events will have their first round of competition on Wednesday morning, with Day 2 concluding with the ACC Affinity Equine Insurance Maiden A first round and final.

Live results can be found on the free scoring app “And The Winner Is…”, with free livestream, news updates and further information available at www.abcra.com.au.

Wednesday 25^th September 2024

Competition well underway at the 2024 ABCRA National Finals

Round 1 of nine key title events started the National Finals Campdraft competition at North Star today, where some of Australia’s top competitors and horses are competing for top honours – including a share in the prize pool worth over $120,000.

First cab off the rank this morning was the Impulse Print Encouragement Rider event, where Katie McDonald on JAZZ took the Round 1 win with a score of 83.5.

Impressive performances were seen across the Affinity Equine Insurance Junior Rider event, with two combinations splitting the round win – Oliviah Tonkin riding ELLENDALE MAX FACTOR and Riley Edwards riding SANGRITA, who both scored 87 points.

It competitive from the get-go in the Pryde’s EasiFeed Juvenile event, where the 2023 ACC Juvenile Champion Clay Sadler on the family favourite SCOTTY topped the Round 1 leaderboard with an 86.5.

The calibre of women’s Campdrafting was evident in Round 1 of the Marsh Carney Saddlery Lady Rider event, where Amanda Hollis on Steve McNamara’s MCNAMARA WISH TO EXCEL took the lead on 88 points – just half a point ahead of Skye Sylvester on BLOODWOOD CREATIVE ACRES and Jade Kelly on OBREINS JEWELETTE who shared =2^nd.

Some of our most experienced riders made for excellent viewing in Round 1 of the YETI Master Rider event, with Gerald O’Brien on GIGOLETTE and Norma Jones on ROCKABY HAZE splitting the win on 89 points. Just 2 points separate the top 6 placegetters, which will make for an extra competitive second round tomorrow.

The three National horse title events then got underway, with ABCRA’s top Open Horses and their riders competing in the Prydes EasiFeed Open Horse event. Somerton’s Aaron Hausfeld on SP SPINNING JEWEL CAT were awarded 88.5 between the two judges Andrew Turvey and Jade Smith, taking the Round 1 win.

The Whitehaven Coal Novice Horse event saw a first round won by Kerrabee cowboy Denny Farly on CHAD with a score of 86.5, narrowly edging ahead of Jack Kable on PEELVALE PLAYIN ACRES by half a point.

Last event of the National Finals Campdraft today was Round 1 of the Whitehaven Coal Most Successful Rider event, featuring some of Australia’s top horse and rider combinations. Quality Campdrafting from start to finish, it was Adam Sadler aboard SWIFT SPIN who took the round win with an 89.5 (including a 64 for horse work) – just pipping WA competitor Brandan Holland on ROSEBROOK BEYONCE and James Morse on KINARRA PANDORA, who shared 2^nd place on 89 points.

Round 2 of the National Finals Campdraft events will decide on National Champions and Aggregate winners tomorrow morning, followed by the first round of the Australian Campdraft Championships Whitehaven Coal Open Campdraft. A midweek day of action not to be missed!

Live results can be found on the free scoring app “And The Winner Is…”, with free livestream each day, news updates and further information available at www.abcra.com.au

Thursday 26^th September 2024

Day 3 deciders and non-stop Campdraft action in North Star

The second and deciding round of the nine key title events were completed today at the ABCRA National Finals Campdraft competition at North Star, where the competition was fierce with a number of National titles still up for contention when the action kicked off at 6:30am. Round 2 and Aggregate Champion awards were won today, with the overall National Champion titles to be announced at Friday nights presentation event.

First riders out were those competing for the Impulse Print Encouragement Rider title, where Campbell Alderson on TR’S MAGIC EYE PRINCESS secured the round win with an 86! Round 1 winner Katie McDonald on JAZZ took out the Aggregate, adding an 85 today for 168.5 –certainly rocketing her position on the overall leaderboard!

The Affinity Equine Insurance Junior Rider event saw a thrilling finish, with Riley Edwards on SANGRITA adding another round win with 85 points – also securing him the Aggregate Champion buckle and closing the gap in the top overall standings!

It was anyone’s round to win in the Pryde’s EasiFeed Juvenile event, where Myles Williams on WILLVIEW AFTERDARK took Round 2 honours with an 85 – he was out of the placings in the first round, however the addition of today’s score was enough for him to clinch the Aggregate Champion award as well! Congratulations.

Kylie Weber on PURE BLONDE made up for a lack of luck yesterday, taking out Round 2 of the Marsh Carney Saddlery Lady Rider with an 88. Amanda Hollis on Steve McNamara’s MCNAMARA WISH TO EXCEL added an 87 to her Round 1 win for 175 – winning her the Aggregate!

Round 2 of the YETI Master Rider event did not disappoint, with Norman Stagg on BRANCHVALE AGILE KITTEN taking the win with 88.5 points. Colin Silvester on GANGMAN added an 82 his 88.5 from Round 1, securing the Aggregate with 170.5.

The YETI Maiden Horse title was a close race, with Luke Morgan on LIVVIE winning Round 2 with an 88.5, just ahead of the Aggregate winner Nigel Kable on NINA who added an 88 for a two-round score of 173.5.

ABCRA’s top Open Horses returned for the second round of the Prydes EasiFeed Open Horse event, where Cameron Martin on TRU CLASS PIZAZZ and Tim McCarthy on LE STORM split the round win with 87.5 points each. Al Sullivan on JANGO won the Aggregate after adding an 85.5 to their first round score of 88 for 173.5.

Round 2 of the Whitehaven Coal Novice Horse event was particularly hotly contested today, with three combinations splitting the round win on 88 points – Jim Southeron on BELLE, Dean Turner on LARA and Jack Kable on PEELVALE PLAYIN ACRES. Jack also took out the Aggregate with a total of 174!

We then saw some of Australia’s best battle it out in Round 2 of the much-anticipated Whitehaven Coal Most Successful Rider event. Aaron Hausfeld on KINGSFIELD JUST LOUIE won the round with an 88, while Western Australian competitor Brandan Holland took out the Aggregate title with a total of 176.

The final event of the day was the first section of runs in the ACC Whitehaven Coal Open Campdraft, where some phenomenal scores reflected the calibre of Campdrafting – despite some dust-settling rain falling throughout the afternoon! There were a remarkable 9 x 90’s and 3 x 91’s, with 3 x 92’s leading the way – Al Sullivan on CACTUS, Andrew Turvey on PLAYGIRL and Tim McCarthy on TNL HOT LAP. With this first round yet to be completed, the final is bound to be absolutely thrilling.

Friday and Day 4 of competition will first see the remaining runs of the ACC Whitehaven Coal Open followed by the Kent Saddlery Ladies event. Consecutive finals for each event will then commence, from approximately 2pm.

Friday night will see the 2024 National Finals Champions crowned, titles and awards presented at the National Finals presentation from 7pm.

Live results can be found on the free scoring app “And The Winner Is…”, with free livestream each day, news updates and further information available at www.abcra.com.au

Saturday 28^th September 2024

Rain dampens day 4 of the action and leads to an early wrap up

Whilst the weekend’s remaining Australian Campdraft Championship events were cancelled due to wet weather, Friday’s scheduled program went ahead as planned – with an extra event squeezed in during the afternoon session, to ensure as many runs as possible were completed.

The sun made an appearance on Friday morning in time for the second section of the ACC Whitehaven Coal Open Campdraft, where Andrew Turvey from Juandah, Queensland, claimed victory aboard PLAYGIRL after an exciting run-off with Tim McCarthy on TNL HOT LAP.

Both riders were scored an impressive 92 in the first round and a 90 in the final – and it came down to just one point between camp scores in the decider, with Andrew’s 22 points securing the overall win.

The grit and determination of our lady riders was evident as the Kent Saddlery Ladies event commenced while the rain was setting in, with an excellent display of Campdrafting for spectators who stuck it out in the wet weather! Congratulations to Lyn Kelly-Hofman and SPY – a consistent combination who were first out in the final, adding an 87 to their first-round score of 89 to secure the win with a 176.

With the committee fearing the rainfall would be more prolonged than predicted, it was decided that the Prydes EasiFeed Open For Open competitors would brave the rain on Friday afternoon while the arena remained in good condition.

What a great decision this proved to be, with a thrilling show of horsemanship from some of ABCRA’s most talented combinations. With not enough daylight remaining to run a final, it was a one-round contest and Manilla’s Al Sullivan on JANGO were certainly up to the task. A fantastic 92 point round secured the win ahead of two combinations on 91 – Adam Sadler on SWIFT SPIN and Johnathon McDonald on MCDONALDS MISS SCARLETT.

Thank you to Friday’s judges Brent Smyth, Adam Pollock and Todd Hammond who did a fantastic job with the upmost professionalism despite the conditions.

With the rain falling consistently on Friday night during the National Finals presentations, the sun came out again on Saturday morning – but the water logging damage had already been done. After a careful inspection of the arena surface at 7:30am, the difficult decision was made to cancel the remaining Australian Campdraft Championship events with the safety of riders, horses and cattle front of mind.

The ABCRA would like to sincerely thank all sponsors, cattle donors, the North Star Charity Campdraft Committee and local community, staff, volunteers, exhibitors, competitors and spectators for their support of the 2024 National Finals Campdraft event. Despite the early and unplanned conclusion, there were 4 days of fantastic Campdrafting which were wholly enjoyed by all.

Live results can be found on the free scoring app “And The Winner Is…”, with livestream rewatches, daily reports and further information available at www.abcra.com.au.

Find draws and results for the 2024 ABCRA Nationals Finals Campdraft and Australian Campdraft Championships via iCompete.

2024 ABCRA NATIONAL FINALS CAMPDRAFT – Draws and Results

2024 AUSTRALIAN CAMPDRAFT CHAMPIONSHIPS – Draws and Results