26 EQUINE WELFARE AMANDA FINDS HER ROMEO BY SARAH MARINOS Olympic eventing rider and VRC ambassador Amanda Ross is using her extensive experience with Off The Track thoroughbreds to train another potential show jumping champion. During her long career in equestrian, Amanda Ross has successfully worked and competed with a series of Off The Track (OTT) thoroughbreds. In 2000, she rode Otto Schumaker at the Sydney Olympics, a thoroughbred who trialled but never made it to the races. Amanda continued her success with Koko Popping Candy (who raced as Gothic Medusa). In 2020, Amanda and Koko Popping Candy won four Equestrian Victoria awards including Eventing Horse of the Year, Rider of the Year and Off-The-Track Dressage and Eventing Horse of the Year. Koko Popping Candy recently retired from competition (and is expecting her first foal in February 2023), and Amanda has now been working with a new OTT horse. She has high hopes for the new four-legged love in her life – a six-year-old dapple grey called Romeo. “Two of my clients were riding at Balnarring Beach in Victoria one morning and spotted him. He was so beautiful that he caught their eye and they told me about this grey thoroughbred. As soon as they mentioned the name on the horse’s saddlecloth – Yargi – I knew who the horse belonged to,” Ross said. Romeo, who raced as Switching To Win, was trained by husbandand-wife trainers Amy Johnston and Ash Yargi. Ross has known Johnston for years so immediately called her to find out more about the mysterious grey horse. “I rang Amy and said, ‘apparently, you’ve got a really nice grey’ and she instantly knew which horse I was talking about. She said he’s not finished racing yet but he’s well-bred with a great temperament. She asked if I was interested when he retired from racing and I said yes. In late January, Amy called me and said he was available,” Ross said.
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