TAMWORTH young gun Wyatt Young has written himself into the record books, becoming the first person to win both the Landmark Classic campdraft and challenge events.
The 22-year-old horsemen secured the champion challenge title last Monday night riding Lisa and Wayne McDonell’s Sheady Spin N Pepsi with a score of 323.21 points.
His success continued on Wednesday when he rode Nashville Nightman, owned by Marg Hinde, Royce Howard and Jason Bower, in the Landmark Classic and was forced to run off for the title against Warwick Lawrence on Everleigh ASH Stud’s Hunter View Royal Chic.
Mr Lawrence ran first and nearly completed the full course but it was Mr Young who stole the show when he put his beast through the gate and claimed the converted title.
Mr Young walked away with one of the largest campdraft prizes in the country for his Landmark Classic win, a $40,000 winners’ cheque, and the dual title, which had never been achieved before. The Classic winning horse, Nashville Nightman, also took out the jackpot, which included another $5500.
While he had competed at the Landmark Classic for the last five or six years, Mr Young had never made the final of either the Classic campdraft or the challenge event, only securing second in the Young Guns draft last year.
Mr Young had been riding Nashville Nightman since he was purchased for $8000 from the sale two years ago.
Speaking to The Land after the event, Mr Young was still in shock at his achievements.
“It’s unbelievable and it will be unbelievable for a long time,” he said.
“I knew the horse power I had coming in with the mare and the stallion but to take one out, let alone both, you don’t dream of that.”
Mr Young began competing in stock horse and campdrafting events from as young as eight years old and would attend 40 or 50 drafts a year in a bid to win a juvenile rider title.
His schedule is a little quieter nowadays, having set up his own professional training business in Tamworth.
“I have a number of client horses here every month and a few horses here on long periods of time like the two I had a bit of luck on,” he said.
2019 has already been a big year for Mr Young who claimed the Maiden Horse Aggregrate draft at the ABCRA National Finals recently.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
