Wayne Crompton out to make an impact in QOTT Cup

By Andrew Smith

Wayne Crompton used to be part of the team that builds the showjumping ring at the Magic Millions Polo and Showjumping Day – but in January, he’ll be competing in it.

The horseman and retired thoroughbred Double Impact recently won the Queensland qualifying round for the 2025 Magic Millions Queensland Off-The-Track Cup.

The event was held at the 2024 Festival of Showjumping at the Queensland State Equestrian Centre at Caboolture.

Crompton and Double Impact were one of 24 horse and rider combinations vying for a spot in January’s final, with the top ten going through.

Simply happy to qualify for the final, Wayne was not expecting the result that followed.

“We wanted to qualify to go, that was the main objective of it really - I didn’t think we’d win the class but I thought we would be close to being in the top ten,” Wayne said.

“It was a fairly long track and there were two doubles in it and the course covered a fair bit of ground.

“He was the first horse to go clean…there was a lot of faults before him so we knew parts of the course were tough, the last fence was a drama for a few.

“He was the only one that jumped double clean - Gemma (Creighton) ran second, she was quicker than me, but I just wanted to qualify and be clear really.”

Bred by Gerry Harvey, Double Impact (by Mossman, out of Cornish Moss) has been in the Crompton family for around 12 years at their property just outside Toowoomba.

The 49-year-old Wayne was emotional describing the pride he has for the former galloper after realising they had sealed their spot in the QOTT Cup Final.

“It was a big thing to win it,” Wayne said.

“We usually ride in Amateurs and this class has always been a thing that we wanted to target with him because that’s what we do.

“He’s a machine and he does what he’s supposed to.

“He jumped super, he tried pretty hard as he usually does.

Kicking off his racing career in 2010, Double Impact had 75 starts across South East Queensland tracks for nine wins and 16 placings.

He collected more than $500,000 in prize money for the Cromptons before retiring in 2018.

His first win as a two-year-old in Toowoomba was bookended by a final win as a 10-year-old on the Sunshine Coast.

It was Wayne’s wife Jackie who picked Double Impact at the Magic Millions Yearling Sales in January 2010 and trained the gelding throughout his racing life.

“As a racehorse, he was a little bit of a pain in the backside,” Jackie said with a laugh.

“He was a colt and he was quite a lad, so that’s how he got his name Tiger at the time. He was always a little bit shy and looking around and did a heap of silly things.

“Now to think that he’s at a show as a 15-year-old tied to the side of a float - it was something that you wouldn’t have imagined when he was a racehorse, so it is quite a transition for him to go from where he was as a two-year-old to now.

“He’s been here all the time apart from his time away with Ron Easey and going to shows with him -  he’s just been part of the furniture so for him to do what he’s done is really incredible.”

Post-racing, Double Impact was sent to the care of QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer Gemma Creighton, before coming under the tutelage of former Olympic equestrian showjumper, Ron Easey.

It was Easey who unearthed the retired racehorse’s raw talent and developed him into a champion showjumper.

Wayne estimates he and Easey travelled around 13,000kms for Double Impact to compete at more than 30 shows, including Taroom, Roma, Charleville, Cairns, Toowoomba and Nambour.

The hard work paid off with the former galloper winning $50,000 for taking out the Just Raced category in the Channel 7 program Jump Off in 2019.

When Easey stopped travelling in 2022, it was left to Wayne to get back on the horse and saddle-up Double Impact for showjumping events.

“It was 25 years since I competed at shows - to come back and to ride, the body’s not like it used to be, we’re all a bit older but to win those classes that he’s won, it’s been pretty good really,” Wayne said.

“He had the ability to do it, he was tough as a racehorse and he was a competitor.

“He was a bit slow to catch on to things but once he did that run with Ronny, he knew what it was about, he knew what he was here for and that was basically the trip through.”

That role change means Wayne will be swapping the screwdriver for the saddle in January at the QOTT Cup Final.

He was part of the first Magic Millions crew that pulled together the show jumping ring under the guidance of international course designer Graeme Watts.

In 2025 though, Wayne will be front and centre on competition day.

“We were the ground crew for the ring basically, went down on the Sunday, put it all together and then pulled it all down as quickly as we could so the polo could get there,” Wayne said.

“It’ll be good to ride in that arena - it’s a big arena, it’ll cover a lot of ground and I assume Graeme Watts will probably build the course, but we jump them tracks all the time so it’ll be right.”

The Cromptons currently have around seven racehorses in work on their Southbrook property.

Jackie takes on the role of strapper for Double Impact at events these days. She speaks with pride seeing her husband and former galloper find success off the track across the state’s showjumping events.

“It is pretty exciting, it’s something that Wayne’s wanted to do since he came back showjumping so for him to make it to the Magic Millions QOTT Cup Final on Double Impact is pretty special,” Jackie said.

“Wayne went with him to Jump Off and Ron rode him so that was good but for Wayne to actually ride him himself and to have so long out of the sport that’s pretty special.

“I think it’s a great incentive - the people who buy the OTTs need that incentive to have something to strive for, anyone can do it.

“It doesn’t matter what level of showjumping you’re at, and being a 1.10m to 1.15m, most of the thoroughbreds are happy to jump that.”

Before the Magic Millions QOTT Cup, Wayne will return to this year’s Ekka on Double Impact for the QOTT Program Showjumping Showcase event.

The duo will compete in the 1.05m class on Sunday, 11 August, where $25,000 prizemoney will be up for grabs.