Mongol Derby Race Report: Day 7: 2 Aussies Tie for Win

MongolDerby.com - Full Story

August 15, 2018
There we have it – the team of Annabel Neasham & Adrian Corboy have gone and done it: they’re joint winners of the tenth Mongol Derby. Adrian Corboy, leaving Australia for the first time in his life, had three weeks to lose nine kilos and do some packing when he stepped in for Ciaron Maher at the last minute. Neither he nor Annabel are endurance riders; Adrian backs and breaks racehorses, while Annabel is a CCI* level eventer from the UK who now works for Ciaron Maher racing in Australia. And yet they beat a field of experienced riders which included DH – a very experienced endurance rider from the USA who was here to compete in her third derby. How did they do it?

When the gun went, DH [Devan Horn] shot to the front as expected. As in previous years she raced hard, choosing horses that looked fast but also looked as if they might have fire in their bellies. AC and AN took a different approach. They had a strategy from the start, Adrian said, and despite being under a lot of pressure, first catching DH and then after DH was awarded the pivotal vet penalty, maintaining their lead. As ever, horse selection was key, as Annabel pointed out at the finish line:

“I think horse selection was a big thing – we got good at picking horses. You’ve got to pick a horse with a bit of length to it, a deep girth and a good shoulder that shows a few ribs. A lot of people said before we left that we should skip the racing ponies. They’re the skinny ones. We had a go with a couple of those but they’re on the steal all the time and they burn too much petrol early on. So it was about picking the herder’s own horse that they use to go and check the herd because they’re fit...”

Read more here:
https://www.mongolderby.com/adventures/mongol-derby/updates/#1

Bermuda: Brangman looking to go the distance

RoyalGazette.com - Full Article

Stephen Wright, Assistant Sports Editor
Published Aug 14, 2018

When Marvin Brangman first heard about endurance riding, he thought it was a sport for “crazy” people.

Brangman, who has a background in dressage and showjumping, has always been passionate about horses, but had little interest in spending long hours in the saddle negotiating all types of terrain.

After much persuading from a friend who competes in the discipline, Brangman agreed to a 25-mile race in 2015 — a gentle distance by endurance standards — and immediately fell in love with it.

He won his second ride of 75 miles in Alabama several months later and from there started the two-year process to qualify for the World Equestrian Games...

Read more here:
http://www.royalgazette.com/equestrian/article/20180814/brangman-looking-to-go-distance

Australia: Local Rider Rises to Ultimate Challenge

OutInCanberra.com.au - Full Story

Riding For Livin’
Aug 14, 2018

Last year when the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its data into the leading cause of death in 2016, suicide was the number one cause of death among people aged 15 to 44 years.

When she was just 24 years old, Canberra local, Courtney Chapman could have become part of that statistic.

“In 2015 I faced one of my hardest battles yet after struggling with depression for many years. I was a broken, fragile girl in the clutches of an all-consuming depressive episode. My autoimmune disease, Crohn’s, was rampaging my body, and I had been hospitalised seven times in the past six months. I was in a turbulent and toxic relationship and was the subject of horrific online bullying from members of the endurance horse riding community I loved so much,” Courtney said.”The weight of it all crushed me.

“That night, 28 June 2015, I almost successfully took my own life. If it were not for the fast thinking actions of some friends that were carefully watching over me, I would not be here today. I was thankfully reached in time and was able to be resuscitated, albeit with a touch and go stint in ICU for a few days. It took a little while for me to realise that I was not meant to leave the earth that day.”

Courtney is now using her life experience and challenges to break the stigma around mental health, and in sharing her personal experience hopes that others will feel comfortable in doing the same.

An endurance rider, who when she was just a 10-year-old used her love of horses to escape the clutches of a difficult life at home, will now be turning that passion into the biggest challenge of her life...

Read more here:
https://www.outincanberra.com.au/local-rider-rises-ultimate-challenge/

Australia's Maher workers take honours in Mongol Derby

Bloodstock.com.au - Full Article

Melbourne

Wednesday 15 August 2018, 5:07pm

Two integral members of Ciaron Maher Racing have taken the honours in an endurance horse race, the Mongol Derby.

Adrian Corboy, a trainer in his own right, and Annabel Neasham, part of the communications team, completed the gruelling 1000km journey in just over seven days, crossing the line on Wednesday afternoon, AEST.

Maher was to have ridden in the endurance test, but withdrew after breaking his leg in a fall from Jameka in the weeks leading up to the event.

The Caulfield-based horseman was as pleased for Corboy and Neasham just as if he had prepared a Group One winner.

"It was a great team effort," Maher said...

Read more at http://www.bloodstock.com.au/news/story.php?id=29301#701aEdGyQsYooyU0.99

Great Britain: Outcry over late changes to Euston Park endurance schedule

Horseandhound.co.uk - Full Article

Horse & Hound
13:26 - 13 August, 2018

Riders whose arrangements are now in chaos have blasted Euston Park Endurance for the short notice re-vamp of its H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum UK Endurance Festival next weekend (17-19 August).

On 7 August organisers announced that the major CEI3* 160km class had switched from Friday to Saturday, causing problems for those expecting to ride both days, while the CEI2* 120km class had been cancelled. Many are now trying to rearrange travel and accommodation for themselves and their crews, while others hoping to switch to another class are racing to obtain £200 FEI horses passports – a process which normally takes three weeks.

Read more at https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/outcry-late-changes-euston-park-endurance-schedule-661705#vrExYcOVB13bmfSe.99

Mongol Derby Race Report – Day 4

MongolDerby.com - Full Recap

August 12, 2018

If yesterday (day 3) was the tipping point, today there was plenty of evidence that the race has changed from a light hearted chase at the front and a jolly at the back, to a deadly serious hunt for the front runners and some at the back of the field hanging on for dear life.

DH at the front ended the day still at the front of the race and just 1.5 kilometres short of urtuu 18, but with a 2 hour vet penalty and a late riding penalty. She was vetted where she stopped by head vet Pat Sells – a rule change introduced this year to ensure that horses are checked wherever riders stop for the night when they stop.

Today saw the retirement of one of the most popular riders this year, and the youngest – SN. After racing for four days and the best part of 500 kilometres in head-to-toe borrowed kit (riding clothes, helmet, stirrups and leathers – the lot), rolling with his horse in the mud and charming all and sundry, we are very sad to report that SN has called it a day. We are also sorry to report that FA has retired with a broken collarbone incurred in a bad fall yesterday. RB & MB both took carry forwards and the concurrent three hour time penalties to catch up with the back of the field – MB unable to encourage his tired horse to go forwards, RB suffering from general wear and tear. All of these competitors are serious riders – this race is no joke...

Read more here:
https://www.mongolderby.com/updates/mongol-derby-race-report-day-4/

Mongol Derby: Devan Horn Leads at About Halfway Point; Maddie Smith Out

August 12 2018

With roughly half the distance of the 10th annual 1000-km Mongol Derby distance completed for ongoing competitors, returning Mongol Derby veteran, Texan Devan Horn, had the lead at horse station 18. The horse she was riding failed the vet check (apparently failed to pulse down within 30 minutes), and she was out a "smidge" past racing hours, and as per vetting and rest-hour rules, she racked up a 2 hour 8 minute penalty which she'll sit at out HS 18, which should tighten up the leading pack.

This is Devan's third time to ride the Derby. In 2013 she crossed the finish line first, but ended up as runner-up when her horse didn't pulse down in time at the finish, and her incurred vet penalty allowed the second finisher to win. She returned for the 2015 race, but fell ill during it, and had to drop out. "She is she is riding as if there is unfinished business. Which of course there is," tweeted @Mongolderbylive.

With weather wreaking havoc on the ride management - a swollen river prevents them from driving across it and keeping up with the leading riders - the intrepid riders and horses continue onward.

The radical weather delayed the start of the Mongol Derby by a day. @mongolderbylive tweeted on August 11, "Even the more casual observers will have spotted that the riders have seen hail, flooding, storms, blazing sun and today it's cold & wet. One of the more challenging aspects of the race."

Californian Maddie Smith had a bad fall on Day 2, dislocating her shoulder and cracking her ribs. She was hoping to beat the Mongol Derby this year, after having had a fall in the 2016 Derby, where she sustained a concussion and could not continue. Maddie is staying on in Mongolia, and will be at the finish line, waiting to cheer in her comrades on the steppe.

44 riders from Australia, Botswana, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Portugal, New Zealand, UK, Uruguay, South Africa, and the USA started in this year's edition.

More live updates at:
https://www.mongolderby.com/adventures/mongol-derby/updates/