THE 2022 SASJ AWARDS

AN EVENING TO REMEMBER

Once a year at the SA Showjumping Awards, the showjumping fraternity gathers without their horses in tow. This year's gathering occurred in early April at the Indaba Conference Centre and was an evening of feasting and celebration in the smartest of apparel!

The food was exceptional, and the speeches were inspiring. The President of the SA Equestrian Federation, Professor Ian Sanne, one of the first guest speakers, gave some insight into what has occurred in the past year in the equestrian world in South Africa and what the future holds. He noted that South Africa had hosted the FEI General Assembly in Cape Town last year, with the President of the FEI and officials from 56 countries. One key discussion held at the event was the potential to create a 'High-Performance Bubble' in Cape Town to host a big international event such as Longines Global Champions

Tour (stay tuned…)! The hosting of the General Assembly of the FEI has also drawn significant interest to South Africa and in growing the sport here.

Prof. Sanne also touched on imports and exports, indicating that we should see some progress with this in the near future. Qatar may also provide an opportunity for direct exports, which could be ideal as they might be hosting the next World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2026. This led to a mention of the creation of a High-Performance set-up, which is already in the SAEF Pipeline. This would aim to ensure South Africa puts out teams across all disciplines at future WEGs and Olympic Games! On this note, Thomas van Rijckevorsel was commended for his International Gold Medal win, and we would certainly agree with Prof. Sanne in saying that we hope it will be the first of many for South Africa!

The Awards

Dominey Alexander was invited as a guest speaker to present the first award. He rightly noted that one of the reasons our sport is improving in South Africa is due to the quality of the coaches and the international exposure they receive. Coaches are being kept more up to date with the current rules and the different and modern training techniques and they are passing these on to their students. Dominey paid tribute to the famed rider and coach Gonda Betrix, who has won every noteworthy prize and Championship and has a list of accolades that would have kept us at the event well into the early hours if we were to list them all. Generations worth of knowledge have been handed down to her, and she has since passed that knowledge on to all her students (including Dominey, who has ridden with her since moving to South Africa from Zimbabwe). Dominey had the privilege of awarding Gonda the SASJ Riders Coach Trophy for the 2022 Coach of the Top Ranked Rider, who happened to be himself! Dominey also won the 2022 SA Derby Trophy aboard Athena V and the 'Something Special' Trophy for his World Cup win at the Toyota Highways Shongweni WCQ aboard Jelle S. The rest of the many awards were then handed out with breaks in between to enjoy the diverse and delicious main course buffet and desserts. Some noteworthy prize winners include:

SASJ Elite Athlete Trophy

Thomas van Rijckevorsel was awarded the SASJ Elite Athlete Trophy. Previous winners of this award include Oliver Lazarus, Nicole Horwood, Alexa Stais and Lisa Williams (x3).

Pony Rider Awards

These awards were cleaned up by two up-and-coming riders, Kellen Jade McLaren (Scooby Doo), who was awarded the Somersby Trophy for the 2022 PR HighPerformance Rankings as well as the PR Showjumper of the Year and Jade Anderson (My Irish Boy), who won the 2022 SASJ Rising Star Pony Rider Youth Series, the PR SA Championships and the PR Derby.

Junior And Young Rider Awards

• The individual carrying away the most accolades in this category was Alexander Ric-Hansen and her trusty steed Callaho Laois. The pair were awarded the 2022 Junior Showjumper of the Year, Junior SA Championship, SA Junior Outdoor Grand Prix and the SA Junior Derby awards - what a year they had!

• The 2022 Rising Star Junior Youth Series was awarded to Shannay Marais.

• The 2022 Rising Star U25 Youth Series was won by Divan Bosman, who also won the Quinsey Trophy for the Junior High-Performance Rankings.

• The 2022 SASJ U25 Championships/Trophy was awarded to Jade Rosaley Coetzee and Rotoflo Catinio.

• The 2022 YR High-Performance Rankings went to Paige Lee Goetsch.

• The 2022 SASJ Young Rider Show Jumper of the Year went to Amy Michau and Go to Blue.

Horse Awards

• 2022 Top Namibian-bred in the High-Performance Rankings was awarded to Your Perfect Africa's La Mina Z (La Pimeur x Consuelo) ridden by Jeanne Korber and owned by Jeanne Korber and Alison Van Deventer.

• 2022 Top SA Born and Bred Warmblood in the HighPerformance Rankings was awarded to Callaho Lexington (Callaho's Lissabon x Callaho's For Joy), ridden by Jeanne Korber and owned by Jeanne Korber and Michael Whitehouse.

• 2022 Top Thoroughbred in the High-Performance Rankings was awarded to Outeniqua, owned and ridden by Tamar Gliksman (Woodman XX x Shadeed XX).

• The 2022 Top Mare in the High-Performance Rankings received the Hera van de Bien Trophy presented by Kelly O'Connor. The Trophy was awarded to Data Sciences Enouche RK (Tinka's Boy x Chin Chin), owned by Slade Equestrian.

• Northland's Trophy for the 2022 Best Sire in the High-Performance Rankings was awarded to Callaho Warmblood Stud's Callaho Lissabon (Lordanus x Sion).

• The Wachmann Trophy for the 2022 Top Ranked Warmblood Horse was awarded to Protein Feeds Campbell (Catoki x Laptop).

Adult Riders

In addition to the Wachmann Trophy, Protein Feeds Campbell was also awarded the Campbell Trophy for the Riders' 'Horse of the Year'. He shared this award with Bronwyn Meredith Dos Santos' Capital Levubu (Cachas x Cassini I). Lisa Williams and Campbell also walked away with:

• UAG Diamond Rider's Grand Prix Tour

• Adult Showjumper of the Year

• Erreplus SA President's Cup

• Capital Stud SA Championships

• Goldrush Trophy for winning the Biogen Kromdraai World Cup

• Leading Lady Rider and Horse in High-Performance Rankings

• And 2022 Owner of the Top Ranked Horse with husband George Williams

Ronnie Healy picked up two major awards: The Danelaw Trophy for his win of the Reonet Midrand WCQ aboard BlueTurtle's Catweazle, and the Tiger Oats Trophy for his win of the Toyota SA Outdoor Grand Prix aboard his wife's stallion, Hausberger's Eldo.

The Leading Gentleman Rider and Horse in the HighPerformance Rankings were awarded to Rainer Korber and Data Science's Enouche RK, who also picked up the Capital Stud

Trophy for their Win of the Foresyte Shongweni WCQ.

The 2022 SASJ Riders Grand Prix Tour Awards were awarded as follows:

• The 2022 SASJ Riders Bronze Grand Prix Tour went to Tamar Gliksman and Outeniqua.

• The 2022 SASJ Riders Silver Grand Prix Tour went to both Jeanne Korber and Your Perfect Africa's La Mina Z and Kayla Gertenbach and Like Mike van Pela Graca.

• The 2022 SASJ Riders Gold Grand Prix Tour went to Charley Crockart and Callaho Lorenzo.

The Nabab Forever Riders' 'Rider of the Year' was awarded jointly to Dominey Alexander and Nicola Sime Riley. Nicola also took home the Capital Colnardo Trophy for her win of the Brits Stokkiesdraai WCQ aboard Sunny Parks Insaghi DB and was the overall RSA League Winner of the FEI World Cup Series for 2022!

Thank You

Well done to Tiffany Dewar, Kate Launder and the whole SASJ Team for pulling off another impeccable awards dinner. Thank you to all the sponsors that make this sport possible, and congratulations to all the 2022 Winners!