Bannockburn ECPH delivered in spades for his doting rider Francesca Corich van der bas this evening winning the much coveted 4CYTE Premier Stakes, and in doing so, the rather special Tom Gadsby Memorial Trophy.

Fran and her horses had a tough start to the Defender Horse of the Year Show and she almost packed up the truck and headed home, but all that became a distant memory when the Auckland combo aced a very competitive 25-strong field.

Just six came back for the second round – four on zero faults, one on three and one on four.

Oliver Croucher and Takapoto Koru finished the two rounds on eight faults, Laura Inkster with Salut MVNZ on 12 faults and Molly Moffett aboard Lazarus GNZ on four. It was Logan Massie and Adele 13 who posted the first double clear, coming back after a huge slip that could have ended their round, in 41.02 seconds. 

Then it was 21-year-old Fran’s turn who came out and bettered his time with her slick clear round in 39.21 seconds. Last to go was Tyla Hackett and Global PH Cocofino who had a little Braille on the last two fences but came home clear in 40.15 seconds.

“I am absolutely excited,” said 21-year-old Fran. “It is just amazing. It was a rough start to the week but when you start at the bottom you can only go up! I am thrilled with my horse for not taking our start to heart and continuing to jump for me.”

She said she was “incredibly shocked, thankful and happy”. She had a good day off yesterday which gave her the opportunity to reflect on what mistakes she had made both in her preparation and in the ring. “I am still new to this height. At the start of the week I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I know how good Bill (Bannockburn) is. I lost my bravery trying to be too perfect.”

She contemplated dropping back to 1.3m with him but then worried just how long it would take to rebuild from there. “I know my horse is incredible – I just needed to get my head space right so we could have fun.”

She came in not worried if they had a rail or two wanting to focus on a “lovely smooth and even canter”.

Fran was hugely grateful for the input of her coach Jaime Campbell- Ward and sports psych Jason Yuill-Proctor who had gone for a long walk around the grounds with her. “He gave me some amazing pointers to help me find focus and calmed me down,” she said. “What a fantastic day it is.”The trophy was donated in 2014 by the Gadsby family in memory of eventer and showjumper Tom who tragically died after a fall during a cross country event in the UK in 2013.

Results: Francesca Corich van der bas (Auckland) Bannockburn ECPH 1; Tyla Hackett (Waiuku) Global PH Cocofino 2; Logan Massie (Dannevirke) Adele 13 3; Molly Moffatt (Kaiapoi) Lazarus GNZ 4; Oliver Croucher (Cambridge) Takapoto Koru 5; Laura Inkster (Clevedon) Salut MVNZ 6.