The 33-year-old won the inaugural season of Channel 7 and Racing.com’s Jump Off, a seven-episode series that combined Australia’s top horse trainers with the country’s leading show jumpers with the task of re-purposing retired racehorses for a new discipline. 

Kermond, who now lives in Sydney with his wife Jamie, was paired with Plumpton trainer Patty Payne for the series.

The two-time Australian showjumping champion successfully trained and rode former Payne racehorse Raposo to first place, collecting the cash prize for his efforts, in a flawless run-time of 40.17 in the show’s finale on Sunday night.

He also rode Peacefuleasyfeelin, a eight-year-old brown gelding who retired in may 2016 after five wins in his 28 starts, to a third place finish in an even faster time of 40.02 but incurred a penalty for hitting one of the fences. 

Kermond said Raposo, a six-year-old bay gelding who retired in June 2016 with three wins from 17 starts, surprised him with how well he performed.

“He was the one I was worried about more than Peacefuleasyfeelin coming here,” he said on the show’s finale.

“When we started jumping to spookier stuff at home he was really unsure about it all but I think because there was so much going on he wasn’t phased.

“It didn’t quiet feel like poetry in motion but he did a good job. He was good when we trained here the other day and he was really good tonight and good under pressure.

“That’s probably why he won. He is a trier and a winner and he did a good job.”

Kermond said Raposo was heading in the right direction in life off the racetrack.

“He does (have a future). I didn’t expect him to go well today but he is just a good horse and he does the right thing for you,” he said.