One of the greatest horse events in Australia, the Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge and Campdraft has today come to a close, with record crowds and near record numbers of competitors flooding to the Cloncurry Equestrian Centre for the 5-day event.
A year that has been hailed “a massive success” by the organising Committee, Joshua Smith originating from Gracemere Central Queensland has taken out the iconic Stockman’s Classic Challenge event; riding 3-year old stallion GI M Hard and boasting a total score of 340.
Taking home the beautifully presented Peter Abdy memorial trophy, a massive $20,000 cash and a load of prizes, Stockman’s Challenge Committee President Cheyne Williams commended Joshua on his horsemanship and GI M Hard’s display of athleticism and ability.
“Joshua was a standout in both the dry and wet work sections this year” said Cheyne.
“It was a really tough field with the judges scores showing just that so he should be commended on his win.”
Another hotly contested event in the Challenge discipline, female competitor originating from Alton Downs near Rockhampton Jaimie Kriesch riding RKN Peppered Whiz took out the win in the Encouragement Challenge with a score of 332.25. A category calling for horses and competitors who have not won an open age event before, Jaimie also took home second place riding her gelding Nonda Plains of Peppimenarti.
An event that also included campdraft categories for young, old, ladies and men; Walter Jackson triumphed in the Junior Draft with a score of 78 riding ‘Joe’ and Ben Stanger took out the coveted Restricted Maiden Draft, consisting of 176 competitors restricted to herald only from the Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Julia Creek, Winton, Richmond and Hughenden regions.
With entry free for spectators the all new multi-level seating, grandstands and spectator areas were all brimming; especially for the Saturday night rodeo and live entertainment by former The Voice Australia contestants Trent Bell and Tim Conlon which saw revellers dancing and singing along until late.
“It was really good to see crowd numbers so high” said Committee President Cheyne.
“We put a lot of emphasis on spectator attendance in our marketing and planning, aiming to increase trade stalls and alike and it seemed to really pay off.
“On behalf of the Committee I’d like to thank everyone who came out and supported the 2019 event including competitors and spectators, and I’d also like to take my hat off to everyone who helped organise the event along with all of our sponsors whose support allowed the event to become a reality”.
As usual crowds were well-behaved over the weekend with the local hotels, pubs and caravan parks also brimming.
A full summary of results from the 2019 Curley Cattle Transport Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge & Campdraft will be available from the events website in the coming days or can be accessed from the events 5-days social media coverage.