Photo credit: Hels Tagg. Giz having a practice jump on Friday.

What a spectacular 4 star debut cross country for Sammi and Hunter Valley (Gizmo) today. Sammi was early on so it wasn't quite apparent what a massive affect the track would have on the leaderboard but they simply bombed around.

Gizmo ate up the challenge and tackled every combination with a mixture of bravery and scope and they simply were magnificent. Sammi rode her socks off and she was so overcome with the emotion of being back at 4 star after 10 years that she burst into tears at the finish! It was pretty cool to go into the lead so early on and then be able to relax and watch the rest of the field.

The day ended with Sammi and Giz in 5th spot which is pretty cool for a debut at 4 star! Giz pulled up brilliantly and showed his true thoroughbred colours and Hels, as always, was a superstar all day.