Australia: Saddle sore riders brave the rain for Tom Quilty Cup

Northerndailyleder.com.au - Full Article

28 Jun, 2010 04:00 AM
ALMOST 300 riders turned out in Manilla at the weekend to push themselves and their horses to the limit.

It was the Tom Quilty Gold Cup weekend, and organisers said it went off almost without a hitch.

“Apart from the rain, but we couldn’t do much about that,” secretary treasurer Jessica Taylor said.

Queensland’s Brook Sample took out his second cup.

Sample finished in a time of 8hrs 35min after his joint victory last year with brother Matthew.

The first rider across the line in Manilla yesterday was 12-year-old David Anderson in 8hrs 30min.

Juniors, however, are ineligible to win the cup.

The event was truly an international one, with riders coming from the US, Namibia, France, New Zealand and Japan for the cup.

Mrs Taylor said the town provided “wonderful” support for the event, and was repaid in kind.

“There is nothing left on the supermarket shelves. The shops have all sold out,” Mrs Taylor said.

“So the town did benefit from it.”

Riders were expected to cover 160km over five legs in 24 hours during the event.

n See tomorrow’s issue of The Leader for more pictures and results.