More than 220 leading members of the equestrian and sporting communities gathered in the Olympic Room of the MCG to celebrate the sport’s highest achievers of 2015 as part of the Equestrian Australia Sport Achievement Awards.

As well as honouring the highest achievers within the sport of 2015, the annual awards dinner also paid tribute to the legends of the sport through a new round of Hall of Fame inductions.   

Olympian, coach and leading Eventing judge Barry Roycroft was honoured in the service to sport category, while Neale Lavis’ silver medal winning horse from the Rome Olympics was this year’s horse induction. 

Mirrabooka, an Aboriginal name for Southern Cross, was a talented and spirted dark brown gelding who found success with rider Neale Lavis. Neale purchased the horse in Cooma for 100 pounds and after his sterling performance at the Rome Olympics, Mirrabooka could have fetched up to 10,000 pounds for his owner, but Lavis refused to sell him. 

Mirrabooka won several Showjumping events in England, was fourth at the Badminton Horse Trials and six weeks before the Rome Olympic Games won the International Great Auckland Combined Training Event. It was the Rome Olympics where Mirrabooka made his mark, contributing to the gold medal winning performance of the Australian team and individually winning silver.

Five weeks out from the Rome Games Mirrabooka became lame and Neale had to decide if he would ride his leading horse or call upon his reserve. He knew that Mirrabooka would not let him down and so he stuck with him and the pair went onto produce a famous performance which secured the individual silver medal.

Four years later Mirrabooka competed with Lavis at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Mr Lavis OAM had previously been inducted into the EA Hall of Fame

Other Awards on the night went to : FEI Best Athlete, Boyd Exell was awarded Ariat International Athlete of the Year for the fourth time, adding to his wins in this category in 2010, 2013 and 2014. Exell’s four in hand team of horses - Demi, Conversano, Cselentano, Clinton Star, Bajnok and Lucky, who assisted Exell to a record breaking sixth FEI World Cup Driving title won the IRT International Horse of the Year award. 

2015 Equestrian Australia Sport Achievement Award Winners were: KER Owner of the Year – Nicole Brown, Administrator of the Year – Tina Stafford, Domestic Horse of the Year – Cera Cassiago, IRT International Horse of the Year – Boyd Exell’s four in hand team of Demi, Conversano, Cselentano, Clinton Star, Bajnok and Lucky.

Hall of Fame Inductees also included: Individual Achievement Category: John Fahey, Service to Sport Category: Barry Roycroft,and Team’s category: 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Eventing Team.

Photos: Equestrian Australia