By Darren Cartwright
A racehorse that was bred by a bookmaker and had one win from two dozen starts is taking a teenager on the ride of her life in eventing and showjumping.
Grey Opinion, who last raced in September 2016, has given 15-year-old rider Geneva Searle (pictured) some of the biggest joys in her fledgling equestrian career.
The duo teamed for three wins and a second in four categories in the 2021 Eventing Queensland Awards in their first full year of competition.
Their efforts resulted in winning Equestrian Queensland EvA80, Lowest Accrued Penalties for a Junior Rider and Eventing Queensland Encouragement Award, while finishing equal runner-up for the most accrued points at Queensland Eva 80, EVA 95 and EVA 105 events.
Their rise through the ranks came less than a year after they teamed at the Toowoomba Show in 2020 when Geneva’s mother Monique suggested to her then 13-year-old daughter to ride Grey Opinion.
“We were at the Toowoomba Show, and I said to my youngest daughter, who was 13, ‘why don’t you showjump today and that was the first time she ever rode her,” Monique explained.
“She did a couple of warm-up events and cleared eighty and ninety centimeters.
“So, from then on, she took over the ride on her and last year was her first serious year, and first time competing in eventing and she won or placed at every event.
What’s more remarkable is that Geneva, who is at boarding school in Toowoomba, rarely gets to ride Grey Opinion during the week.
Her success led to being selected in 2021 for the Queensland State EvA80cm team and again in 2022 for the Queensland State EvA95cm class where she will compete at The Interschool National Championships in Sydney later this month, Monique said.
“I ride the horse all week and pick up Geneva on a Friday and she competes with her on Saturday morning, so she has done super well on a horse that she can’t ride during the week because she is at school,” Monique said.
“It just shows Grey Opinion's nature as well, and that they can go out weekend after weekend and win and the quality of the team.”
It was Monique’s father-in-law bookmaker and Kilcoy Race Club president Conway Searle who raced and bred Grey Opinion (pictured with Geneva) who is by Legal Opinion – a half-brother to champion Group 1 winner Zedative - from Madison M’Lassie.
The grey mare’s only win was under trainer Bill Baker at Ipswich in March 2016.
Grey Opinion would have eight more races before her racetrack career ended and she was rehomed with Monique who retrained her for dressage.
It took six weeks to transform the placid thoroughbred into a quality eventing horse that can mix it with equestrian’s more fashionable warmbloods.
That included equine massage machines and improving her back muscles to give her a better ‘top line’, which helps her when she jumps.
“She was six years old when we started training her and when we took her to her first event and she didn’t falter,” Monique said.
“She's much more of an eventer than what she would be for any other discipline.
“She does a really nice dressage test, and she always goes clear cross country and showjumping.”
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