Billy Raymont on Caprino at Magic Millions 2024. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.

Billy & Tesse Raymont kick off Victorian campaign at GDP Classic

By Equestrian Life

Run “by the riders for the riders”, the GDP Classic (15-18 February) is once again drawing a star-studded show jumping line-up to Boneo Park.

The headline GDP Classic Grand Prix will see 24 riders vie for a $59,000 prize pool – the second richest in Australia – with many of the sport’s big names amongst the entrants.

Queensland’s Billy Raymont attended his first GDP Classic last year, finishing second in the headline class with star gelding Caprino (Yalambis Carpino Z x Oaks Dreamtime by Clearway).

This year, Billy and wife Tesse are once again making the journey down the highway from southeast Queensland to base at Boneo Park for six weeks while they attend a number of key shows – the first of which will be the GDP Classic.

“We’re really excited for the GDP Classic,” says Billy, explaining that he and Tesse are bringing 12 horses down to Victoria. Billy will ride ten at the GDP Classic and Tesse will saddle up two.

“To go one better (in the Grand Prix with Caprino) would be nice, but to be honest the weather in Queensland has been pretty brutal, it’s been hot and really humid… so it’s been a little bit hard to train and prepare,” explains Billy.

“I have the stallion Tulara Dakchico (Dakar VDL x Tulara Chicos Girl, by Chicos Boy) in the Mini Prix, and then we also have the stallion we brought back from Europe, Blue Balou PS (Chacco-Blue x Sarina, by Baloubet du Rouet), in the Future Stars… so I have a really nice horse in each of the main classes I think, which is good.”

Billy Raymont competing at the 2023 edition of Jumping with the Stars riding Blue Balou PS. Image: Michelle Terlato Photography.

With another seven horses across the various classes, it’ll no doubt be another busy event for Billy. Tesse is also excited to have both Cera Capitano (Cera Cassiago x APH Edith, by Danger’s Hour xx) and Jaheta Hazel entered, with the latter contesting the Future Stars class.

Following the GDP Classic, Billy says the plan is to head to the World Cups at Shepparton and Werribee (Jumping with the Stars) in March before heading home for the Queensland winter circuit. “We’ve been doing that now for three years and it works really well for us,” he explains.

International venture

As for looking further afield, Billy says that he and Tesse are keen to head overseas again – however the timing of their next trip is still up in the air.

“We are trying to aim towards getting back overseas again, but realistically we’re waiting for the two stallions (Tulara Dakchico and Blue Balou PS) to get a little older and a little more experienced first.

Tulara Dakchico and Billy Raymont. Image: Michelle Terlato Photography.

“If Caprino was to get his FEI MERs (for the Paris Olympics) and was screaming for a trip away sooner, that might change things, but we had a little bit of a hold up last year with him and he didn’t start jumping the World Cups until later in the year, so he hasn’t got all his MERs yet.

“We’ll see what happens in March… there are the two World Cup shows with MER opportunities coming up in Victoria. We’ll see if he jumps well at them… but to be honest, I think our plan would be later next year, to get away again hopefully with a bit of a team.”

“A really great concept…”

While Billy has his eye on another overseas jaunt, he loves competing on the Australian circuit and is pleased to see the progression of show jumping events here in Australia – in particular competitions such as the GDP Classic.

“To be honest, it’s a really great concept. Obviously having it at Boneo Park, the facility there is spot on and world class, and then the team behind GDP, they are riders, and they do a really fantastic job of creating a show for riders… it really gives it that extra kick in our favour.”

Having these big shows in Australia with good prize money are critical to helping riders keep their top horses based here. “To have a good Grand Prix horse, obviously their value is quite high and so to have shows that help make it worth keeping them, that’s huge for us and our owners. It’s really important that we’re starting to get these kinds of shows here now.”

Billy is certainly looking forward to this weekend’s action at Boneo, and although the recent Queensland heat means his horses are perhaps a little underprepared, on the flip side the team might revel in the cooler Victorian conditions.

“They might really appreciate the weather change when we get to Boneo… maybe they’ll jump out of their skin with a little bit of luck! We’re looking forward to it; it’s just a really nice way to kick things off for Tesse and I, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Equestrian Life and ClipMyHorse.TV are live streaming the action from the GDP Classic (17-18 February). You can find out more via our Live TV page.

READ THE LATEST NEWS ARTICLES HERE