Vaz, Ralston highlight ICWI/Hi Pro festival

In an impressive display, Jonathon Vaz and Gabby Ralston dominated the grand-prix events at the ICWI/Hi Pro Independence Equestrian Festival, held at the St Ann Polo Club & Equestrian Centre on July 30 and 31.

Vaz, a 14-year-old St Ann native, and student at Hillel Academy, won his first grand-prix event in an impressive display of horsemanship in capturing the Hi-Pro Mini Grand Prix Trophy, an annual event with jumps ranging from two feet six inches to three feet three inches.

After making the jump-off speed round by doing an impressive clear round on Shabba Ranks in the preliminaries of the event, he electrified the large crowd by bettering Stephanie Stewart, aboard Appeal, by fractions of a second. Both Vaz and Stewart ride for the Kingston Polo Club (KPC) under the tutelage of Susan Wates.

Yvonne Melville, Vaz's former coach, who is now retired from active coaching, said:

"This was one of the most exciting jump-off rounds in recent memory, with each child bettering the time of the previous rider, so it came down to the last rider, Jonathon, who pulled it off with an incredible ride.

"I am also proud that he has joined the ranks of his brother, Justin, who had won this trophy the previous four years in a row, and has had a brilliant career in local and international competitions over the last 10 years."

International competitions

Seventeen-year-old Justin is now concentrating on international competitions and foreign-training programmes having just returned from a month-long stint in Europe on the showjumping circuit.

Rounding out the field was Gabby Ralston aboard Miss Fran in third place, Francesca Chin atop Jiggy, Adam Lake on Alex and young Sarah Misir aboard Stormy.

Ralston turned the tables on Vaz later in the day in the final leg of the Hi-Pro Grand Events over three feet three inches to three-feet-11-inch poles. A cumulative competition held throughout the year in three legs, Gabby on Miss Fran not only won the third and final leg ahead of Francesca Chin on Jiggy and Jonathon Vaz on Shabba Ranks, but became the cumulative winner of all three legs by virtue of her placing in the first two.

The Class 6 show jumping two-feet Open, which is designed for older riders who are schooling new horses, saw Leslie Hamilton on Cali, Lacife Leslie on One Spot, Julian Hyde on Rogg, Ralston on Sweet Pea and Lacife Leslie on Lollipop in the top five.

Saturday opened with a poignant event, the Hugh Maitland Walker three-feet-open Table C in memory of the late great St Ann hotelier and farmer, which saw Jason Walter (Ponderosa) on Queenie taking the prize. Sarah Misir (KPC) on Stormy, Kelly Nunes (KPC) on Jack, Jonathon Vaz (KPC) on Ali Baba, Tiffany Ralston (KPC) on Patriot and Jordan Williams (Half Moon) on Brave Heart finished in the top six ribbons.