Tribute To A Champion - Fernhill Zinzan

This article is from the February 2021 Horse Deals magazine.

That Fernhill Zinzan turned out to be a very successful showjumper is no surprise. He was bred for the job, was produced as a young horse by Tom McDermott and then formed an astonishing partnership with young teenager, Madi Sinderberry. The young girl and the little horse had a connection and a chemistry that is seldom seen, and as you will discover, they made the most of it.

Businessman, Charles Blinkworth imported a number of horses from Europe under professional, George Sanna’s guidance. They were given the CP prefix after Sanna’s then property, Chatham Park at Glossodia, just out of Sydney. One was CP Argentina by the Cor de la Bryere son, Chiron Z out of a Hanoverian mare, Graf Granny that has the successful jumping sire Wenderkreis on her dam line. Argentina was a huge success with Blinkworth’s daughter, Emily, who was almost unbeatable in Young Rider and Mini Prix classes. CP Ulixes was by the great showjumper, Lux Z and when gelded, went on to have a very successful World Cup career with Sharon Slater.

“Zinzan is one of three identically bred horses and they have all won an Australian Championship,” says breeder, George Sanna. “Madi rode Zinzan to win the National Young Rider titles in 2016 and 2017. She also rode JT Valentina to win the National Junior titles in 2018, and Amber Fuller rode CP Aretino to win the Senior National titles in 2018.

“I sold Zinzan, foaled in 2008, to the Tripp family as an unbroken two-year-old. It was a commercial decision, but also I could see that he was not going to be very big and was destined for a Junior or Young Rider. Tom McDermott was working for the Tripps at the time and he produced him and started him off, as at that stage the Tripp girls were not up to breaking in and riding breakers. Zinzan was quite spectacularly successful with Tom from the get-go. He was clearly very clever from the outset, he was cute, careful and smart about the jumps. He was a winner from day one, and of course a lot of that credit has to go to Tom, and they won a lot of classes. Madi Sinderberry is a really talented rider and horses like to jump for her. She was just 13 when she got Zinzan and trained with Dave Cameron and was also very successful from the outset.”

“We were at a show at SIEC in 2014,” remembers Madi, “and we were looking for another horse. We saw Tom ride Zinzan in a 1.30m class in the indoor and thought, OMG that’s a cool little (15.2hh) horse. We asked if he was for sale, which he was. I tried him a couple of times and he was a bit naughty, but had plenty of character and I loved that.

“The first event I took him to was the Interschool State Championships two weeks after getting him. I jumped the 1.10m and 1.20m classes and did really well there. In 2014 he won the 7 Year Old Young Horse Championship at The Showcase of Showjumping, ahead of Dave Cameron on Nicolette, Andrew Inglis riding Agloria and Chris Chugg with Black Currency. I was 13 and had only had him for a few months.

“Timmy, as we called him at home, was such a cool little horse. He was the Australian Young Rider Champion 2016 and 2017, NSW Young Rider Champion twice, Summer Classic Young Rider Champion twice, Sydney Jump Club Young Rider Champion twice and Showcase of Showjumping Young Rider Champion twice. I was the Most Successful Junior in 2015 and Young Rider in 2016 on him at Sydney Royal. He won the Aquis Champions Tour Speed Derby in 2016 and 2017. Zinzan was Australian Champion 7 Year Old Horse, Australian and NSW Interschool Champion and won many other Junior and Young Rider Championships. He also held his own on some bigger tracks, winning and placing in major Mini Prix and Silver Tours to 1.45m jump off heights. He won the 2016 Aquis Champions Tour Mini Prix and was 2nd to Billy Raymont on Double J Butler in the 2017 Tamworth WC Show Silver Tour Final.

“The day Timmy won the 7 Year Old Horse class at the October 2014 Showcase of Showjumping with Dave Cameron and co. chasing him hard, we knew we had a fast pony. Since then some great Young Rider combinations like Brooke Langbecker on Flowervale Diamond, Jamie Priestly on Amaretto and KS Optimus, Jess Tripp on Diamond B Verona and Jasmine Dennison on Nicolossi etc, have pushed him hard, but Timmy has usually stopped the clock in the lead.

“I loved Timmy and it was a very hard decision for us to make, but we never really had any aspirations, nor did we try to take him further than the Mini Prix. I could feel that he was trying his hardest there and did not want to push him further and risk breaking his heart. We felt that 1.40m was his limit. Also, I had won so much with him and had Oaks Komso and other young horses to bring to Open and World Cup competition, we felt Timmy was the one to sell. I am always looking towards the next challenge and I felt that I had done everything I could do on him. We thought he had so much to offer another Junior or Young Rider.

“We sold him to New Zealand interests at the end of the 2017 season, where he was lightly shown and is now retired.”

“From the time Madi got Zinzan,” says George, “it began a journey that resulted in probably the most winning combination in showjumping at any level for several years.”

Article: Anna Sharpley

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