Tom Tarver-Priebe rides Popeye Copyright Photo: Libby Law Photography
Tom Tarver has had a brilliant start to his campaign at the President of the UAE Showjumping Cup in Abu Dhabi with a sixth place finish in the UAE Equestrian Federation Speed Stakes.
Forty-five started the 1.45m class which was won by Khaled Abdulrahman Al Mobty (KSA) aboard Grunnerger Kwiebus in 63.27 seconds. Tom and Popeye stopped the clock at 67.42 seconds. The top 12 were all clear. Richard Gardner and Calisto were just out of the money with their two fault, 81.37-second round, for 15th place with Daniel Meech and Cinca 17th, also with two faults but slightly slower in 82.69 seconds.
Tom and his fiancé Lucia Voss were over the moon with the efforts of the quirky grey. “This is the first competition for us in the east and not forgetting the temperature difference,” says Tom. “It is zero degrees in Germany and 30-34 here in Abu Dhabi.”
Popeye had travelled well and adjusted quickly. “He likes the sun, and particularly coming from competing indoors to today’s course which was a good track and felt nice and flowy. We had space to canter compared to the smaller indoor classes. It was a good warm-up for Saturday’s Nations’ Cup.”
All were appreciative of the support from New Zealand and Tom says without the Backing Black campaign they would not have been able to make the trip to Abu Dhabi.
Competition continues tonight with the President of the UAE Showjumping Cup 1.60m Grand Prix.
CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS & START LISTS
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE STREAM – and to watch previous days competition
THE HORSE DETAILS:
Backatorps Danny V – owned by Backatorp Ryder AB, Bruce and Ulrika Goodin
Cinca 3 – owned by Johnson Horses GmbH and Daniel Meech
Calisto 5 – owned by Gestut Jennissen, Gut Nechen Agrar GmbH and Richard Gardner
Popeye – owned by Tom Tarver and Lucia Voss
By Diana Dobson – HP Media Liaison
Photos by Libby Law/ESNZ