Bromont, Quebec – June 12   

From the first division to the last, chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi,” rang out around the main arena at The Jaguar Land Rover Bromont CCI today, as two Australians (and one former Australian rider) took home the big wins.

Ryan Wood picked up the CCI*** win with Woodstock Bennett and the CIC*** win with Frankie, while Boyd Martin won the CCI** with Bonito and Dominic Schramm won the CCI*.

Wood has been seeing great success this season with several of his horses, including Powell, who just won the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.) in May.

Like Powell, Wood’s brought up “Bennett” and Frankie from the beginning, and he’s thrilled it’s all coming together.

“It was pretty awesome to win a three-star, and to win both of them, I’m speechless,” he said. “I’m pretty excited and just grateful to have the opportunity that I’ve had to compete these horses and bring them through the levels with amazing owners and supporters, my mentor and coach Phillip Dutton and great friends.”

Ryan Wood and Frankie. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Bennett came to Wood as a 4-year-old from Ireland, and has five advanced runs under his belt.

“He’s such a good boy. He’s not the fanciest mover, and he’s not exuberant in any phase, but he’s just a workman,” said Wood. “You can go out and get the best out of him, and he lets you train on him and ride him. He wants to do the right thing, and I think that’s 90 percent of it.”

Frankie, an off-the-track Thoroughbred Wood got for $500 and some free jump lessons, has always been consistent as he’s come up the levels, but finally got his chance to shine this weekend.

“He’s just a champion. He wants to win and he wants to please,” said Wood.

In the CCI***, five jumped double-clear over Marc Donovan’s course, and in the CIC***, four kept all the rails up. Wood jumped double-clear on both his horses.

“I wouldn’t say I was confident, I was just focused. Just go in there and ride as well as I can, and hopefully I’d do what I needed to do,” he said. “[Frankie] breathed on a couple but he was trying really hard and jumped really great in the warm up. I thought I just had to ride him accurately and he’d do the rest.”

Ryan Wood and Woodstock Bennett. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

As for Bennett, “He was jumping out of his skin. He does get the jump from his grand dad Darco. He tried his heart out.”

Wood confirmed the Australian selectors have their eye on Powell for the Olympics in Rio, but he’s clearly given them a little more to consider after this weekend.

Cross-country leader Kylie Lyman dropped a rail with Lup The Loop to fall to second and jumped clear with her third placed horse Sacramento to stay in that spot.

“[Lup The Loop] was just a little tired today, but he’s only eight and hasn’t been at it that long. Neither have I, so I can’t really be too disappointed with that! I don’t think I could have dreamed of a better first three-star. They’re both pretty incredible,” she said.

Boyd Martin and Bonito. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Martin was leading the CCI** with Tsetserleg, but one rail down relegated them to second. A clear round bumped his other ride Bonito, who was third after cross-country, into the lead when second-placed Peter Barry had a rail.

“I think this is a really good horse,” said Martin, who found the 9-year-old gelding from his German contact Philipp Kolassa last year. “He’s very green but he’s got all the criteria and the tools, now I just need to train him. He’s a wonderful mover on the flat, he’s got a great gallop, and he’s brave cross-country, and he’s a really good jump. He’s just very green, and I think that showed up a bit today. I felt like I was waterskiing a bit, but he was good and left all the rails up and got away with the win.

“He would jump an advanced tomorrow, but I think I’m better off getting him more schooled and more trained. At the moment I’m a little bit on a wing and a prayer in all three phases. We’ll keep chipping along,” he added.

Domm Schramm and Bolytair B. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Dominic Schramm has been looking for his next FEI horse after his three-star partner Cold Harbor retired last year, and he thinks he’s found it in Bolytair B. The pair jumped clear to take the CCI* lead when overnight leaders Erin Sylvester and Mr. Optimistic dropped three rails.

The gelding came to his barn last year, but gave him a scare this season when he colicked and needed surgery in February. He was back in action by April with Bromont as a goal.

“I have been thinking about every facet of this for about six months. We really trained hard for this, and I wanted to come up here and have a good show, so I’m thrilled that it came off the way I wanted it to,” he said. “I know the horse is a very good jumper, and he can sometimes be a little spooky in the ring, but it almost makes him jump a bit better. I was kind of nervous because I’ve not been in this situation before with this important of a round. I was thrilled with him—couldn’t have been happier.”

For full results, click here.