Australia’s premier Campdrafting competition and performance horse sale is set to launch this week, and this year the event has a brand-new name.
Known for the past 13 years as the Landmark Classic, this event in the performance horse circuit will continue under the new title ‘The Nutrien Classic’.
The name change comes as a result of the merging of brands – and as Nutrien Equine’s Claudia Turnbull said, the name may have changed but the event remains true to its roots.
“The Classic is the largest event of its kind in Australia and an annual highlight for breeders, competitors and spectators,” she said.
Taking place from February 1 to 9 at The AELEC, the 2020 Nutrien Classic will celebrate 13 years of success.
Over that time, it’s earned the title of Australia’s biggest campdraft and sale, hosting up to 500 competitors, 300 horse handlers, 5,500 daily visitors and more than 491,000 livestream views across the nine days.
This year promises a new addition to the line-up; water buffalo brought all the way from Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Nutrien has purchased around 70 head of farmed buffalo, and while they won’t be used for competition events, they’ll replace cattle for pre-works during the event.
Event organiser Mark Barton explained they are always looking for ways to overcome the challenges of current climate conditions.
"We believe that sourcing water buffalo is one way to do this," he said.
"Sadly, many farmers have been forced to de-stock, which means there just aren’t the cattle numbers available for event use.
Given that the ongoing drought has affected our ability to get cattle in for this year’s event, this is an exciting new departure that’s also sure to be a crowd-pleaser.”
The 2020 event will see the return of key events like the Nutrien Classic Campdraft, which offers $40,000 in prize money, the Martins Stock Haulage Open Campdraft, where riders are able to ride any horse to try their luck at an $8,000 winners cheque, and the Prydes EasiFeed Performance Horse Challenge, that allows competitors to show off their horses’ skills and style.
Also back is the Charlie Maher Memorial Young Guns Campdraft, held in honour and memory of Classic Co-Founder Charlie Maher.
Showcasing the incredible young talent of the campdrafting community, it promises to draw a large and enthusiastic crowd to what is one of Nutrien’s most loved events.
There will also be a new event in honour of the late Jimmy Matthews, a campdraft legend who sadly passed in 2016.
The Ladies Dash for Cash Incentive, which will see the top 10 ladies from all first-round scores compete in a final showdown.