Bride's runaway success
While Dannevirke's Maurice Beatson won the Olympic-qualifying showjumping competition on his home-bred horse My Gollywog, he first had to wait for the Running of the Brides.
Napier's Lisa Bircham trained until it hurt to win the $25,000 wedding package. The prize includes a Fiji honeymoon, stag and hen nights, clothing for the wedding party and an all-expenses-paid wedding at the exclusive Mangapapa Petite Hotel.
On the Olympic showjumping circuit - in a wedding dress - Lisa had to throw a bouquet, pull on a garter, eat a piece of wedding cake, drink a glass of bubbly, sign a wedding certificate and zoom with her groom, Dave Pink, to the finish line.
Training was not a high priority, she said.
"I walked around the block and sprinted a bit but that hurt so I stopped," she said.
"I had my signature down pat, though."
Hawke's Bay A & P Society general manager Brent Linn said it had been a fantastic show with good attendance and no problems.
"We've had a fantastic equestrian spectacle, the trade sites have some holes in their stocks from good buying and food demand was early and strong around lunchtime," he said.
