from horsetalk.co.nz (dated 30nov10)

South Islanders took home three of the five titles from the New Zealand Eventing Championships at Richfields Thoroughbred Farm, near Te Kauwhata, over the weekend.

Canterbury farrier Brent Jury won the Forest Gate Trophy for the Advanced title with SE Big, while his apprentice James Avery won the Junior class with Amarillo. Emily Butcher, also from Canterbury, won the Intermediate title with My Shout, and placed third with Dambala.

Jury's win is just reward for a comeback to the sport after 25 years, and puts him at the top of the Bell Tea Super League jointly with Butcher and her seasoned campaigner Southern Ben, who won at Taupo in October, but did not start at Richfields. Both horses will start at the Puhinui Three-day Event on 10-12 December, which offers the opportunity to earn higher points than at Richfields.

Defending champion Lizzie Brown, Cambridge, elected not to run Henton Attorney General across country, despite leading after the dressage phase, saving him for Puhinui, but placed second with Push Play. Bryce Newman, was third with Bates Trademark, and Clarke Johnstone, was fourth with Incognito.

Johnstone and Incognito have moved into third place in the Bell Tea Super League, ahead of Brown and her two horses, so competition will be keen at Puhinui, which marks the halfway stage in the year-long series.