The countdown for Tom Quilty 2020 Gold Cup officially started on the long weekend where riders had their third last chance to qualify for the Gold Cup.
Each rider will need to successfully complete a 160km ride to be able to compete in a Tom Quilty and on the long weekend we gained another three riders for team WA.
On Friday, May 31 at midnight, seven riders started the race and at 6.45pm Saturday the first rider, Tegan Symington crossed the finished line.
It was a successful ride with an 85 per cent completion. The horses looked fantastic throughout the day despite the heat.
The shorter distances did extremely well with 24 horses in the 80km, 20 in the 40km and 11 in the 20km.
All riders were congratulated by the vets as we experienced hot conditions and it was quite challenging to get the horse's heart rates down.
Ride organisers did a great job and all riders were thankful for the beautiful course they marked.
The SES manned the checkpoints and had a really long day, with most staying up for 24 hours.
As a rider myself its always great to see their smiling faces at a checkpoint, especially if you have been on a horse for 15 hours.
Overall it was a great weekend and the club had a small glimpse of what we will be hosting at Collie Racetrack next year.
The next chance to qualify for the Gold Cup will be on September 28 at the State Championships.
