Brown holds off challenge from Roycroft to win 2014 Equestrian Grand Final for Jumping

24 year old Jess Brown has withstood pressure applied by equestrian stalwart Vicki Roycroft in the Equestrian Grand Final for Jumping to win the title and clinch her first World Cup Jumping victory.

Brown and Roycroft were among the 22 strong field in the annual event which is held under the lights of the Grand Pavilion at Melbourne's Showgrounds as part of EQUITANA – the southern hemisphere's largest horse trade show. They shared the lead at the end of the first round after both were the only two to produce clear rounds.

It set up a thrilling showdown between the two and when Brown and her horse Casco produced a solid second round which incurred just one time penalty, the pressure was on Roycroft who had to produce a clear round in order to take the title. She and her horse Congo Z could not replicate their faultless round from earlier, knocking one pole to finish on four penalties.

Brown's win is the biggest of her career and the 24 year old relished the opportunity to compete in front of a big crowd and atmosphere.

"The atmosphere almost made him better, it sort of gave him a bit of a boost, he was perked up. I think he thought he was the best horse out
there.

"I was feeling pretty good, we had a start in the arena yesterday, obviously there wasn't a crowd then but it gave us an idea as to how our horses would handle the situation and the environment, he was a little fresh yesterday but that had nothing to with the environment so I was pretty confident.

"He couldn't have done much better, I was super happy with him," she said.

New South Wales riders filled the top three placings with Australian Young Rider Champion Tom McDermott and his horse Airtime Z finishing in third place.

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