David Middleton: Winning Adelaide 5* Two Decades Apart

In 2000, David and Willowbank Jack won the 5-Star at the Adelaide Three Day Event, writing their names in the history books. Fast forward 24 years, David is still a force to be reckoned with taking out the 5 star at the 2024 Adelaide Equestrian Festival with his 12-year-old, homebred WEC In The Money.

Horse Deals spoke to David about his journey to winning the prestigious event two decades later.

David, tell us about your previous horse, Willowbank Jack, and your partnership with him. Jack was the horse of a lifetime. Standing at 17hh, he was built uphill, which made him very balanced, and he had great dressage. He was a horse I just seemed to click with better than any other horse. He was very good at cross country but wasn’t the most careful showjumper. With an 11th at the World Championships, first and second at the Oceania Championships and wins at Adelaide CCI5-Star and Melbourne CCI4-Star, it is highly likely he will be the best horse I ever own.

Would you say he shaped your future eventing career? After the success I had with Jack, it is fair to say I probably had unrealistically high expectations, and that likely ended up being one of the reasons I ended up selling my other horses, and ended up out of the sport for over a decade. I now have horses I really like, which has allowed me to give them and myself the time to build a partnership and work through our weaknesses. It is a slow process, and there is a lot more learning to do, but we have reached the point where things are getting exciting!

What was Adelaide 3DE like back in 2000? What’s changed? Adelaide is very much how I remember it, minus an hour and a half of roads and tracks and four minutes of steeplechasing. In the early days, the Christmas pageant used to finish at the parklands, and there would be massive crowds. I seem to recall it was around 50,000 people. I can still remember one year there were thousands of people at the lake; many had nothing to do with horses, and every second, 3-Star horses were crashing at the lake, and the crowd were cheering the carnage. It was the year Sam and Luke ended up vertical above the water jump and created the most memorable Adelaide photos ever!

How did that feel to then be named the overall winner for 2024? It was a great feeling to know you had won the most prestigious event in the southern hemisphere. It makes all the sacrifices worth it. Having previously won it, I know that it does change your life for the better. Everything just seems easier after you have won a 5-Star. That being said, I know I still have a lot to improve. I changed a number of things in the days leading into Adelaide, and I am hopeful I might have found another gear.

It’s now been 24 years, and you’re back, but this time competing on your homebred horses. Tell us about your mounts WEC In The Money and WEC In The Breeze. The horses are both by our home-bred stallion In The Black, who we stand at stud. My daughter Jaz started riding him when she was 11 and had plenty of success at dressage and eventing. They are both out of a homebred mare by Balou du Rouet. WEC In The Breeze is the internet sensation, with her freakish jumping she is a potential superstar when I learn to ride her good enough. WEC In The Money goes about things a bit more quietly, and he is my best mate. It was nice to see him get the big win.

What was your preparation for Adelaide this year? My preparation wasn’t good. I just seemed to miss a lot of days for different reasons. I am just lucky they are naturally super-fit horses and always pull up really well. I just seemed to be very busy; one week was a complete write-off when I was trying to play truck mechanic, replacing, among other things, the turbo. I thought I was pretty handy until I was driving home from the vet one day and noticed a lot of oil on the other side of the road for about 10km. The moral of the story is a big hammer is a poor substitute for attaching things correctly. WEC In The Money nearly didn’t make it to Adelaide. Two weeks before we left, he had a tiny scratch that caused cellulitis, and he was dog lame. He got to spend a night at the hospital and was out of work for a week.

A score of 39.0 in dressage saw you place ninth. How did you feel this set you up for the rest of the event? 39 wasn’t good; the jockey just needs to do better. I have a number of ideas, and I hope to see an improvement in my dressage going forward.

Cross-country was next and you set off strong but had a minor challenge on course - how did you not let it affect you for the next jump? I had one setback, which was galloping straight past jump eight. It was quite slow to turn in the narrow lanes, and I turned up quite short of it to save time. I had a really short canter and saw a holding deep spot, and that is when I realised just what a massive jump it was. Lucky for me, WEC In The Money is a serious jumper and just boomed it. From that point on, I knew I was behind, so I just forgot about the watch and rode as quickly as I could safely ride.

Both mounts made it to the final phase sound and eager to go. After your round with WEC In The Breeze, what did you differently with WEC In The Money? The only thing I consciously did differently was the last line; Breeze did seven strides and had the last down. So, I definitely waited and added an extra stride the next time.

I know a parent can’t have favourites, but did you have any preconceived notions on which mount could have taken the win? WEC In The Breeze was more likely to be ahead based on dressage and showjumping, but WEC In The Money is definitely a bit quicker, and at Adelaide, time on cross country is always tough.

What did you feel when you realised you won? It was a great feeling to know you had won the most prestigious event in the southern hemisphere. It makes all the sacrifices worth it.

Immediately you were seen ringing your wife. How did you break the news? I called Michelle straight away to let her know we had won. Unfortunately she had stayed home as she wasn’t very mobile due to having recently broken her foot. She was very excited that I remembered to call her and happy we won too!

Was there any differences winning in 2024 compared to 2000? What made it special? In 2000, I was in the final squad that went into the pre-Olympic training camp. I turned up to Adelaide with the disappointment of missing out on Olympic selection, so it was nice to come out and win a 5-Star and finish the year on a high.

This year, it was great to know you are finally back to the level you expected from yourself and to know you’ve bagged another career highlight.

And I have to ask, what are you going to do with the money? Of course, who could forget the money. It has been an absolute struggle to fund this expensive hobby and I have only been able to do it at this level thanks to Mum’s (Anne Middleton) help. It will probably all get spent on the horses, the truck and competitions, but should allow me to improve my performance by cutting less corners.

What’s next? I don’t know what is next as the run at Adelaide changes everything, but in the longer term, I plan to be back at Adelaide next year with a view to the 2026 World Championships.

David is proudly sponsored by his Mum and Equine Health Science, makers of the joint supplement Sharknet.

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