Eventing Hartpury, Aston-le Walls, Dalkeith, Haras National du Pin and highlights
British girls take all three classes, with a first threeday triumph for a seasoned campaigner
A NEW bitting system significantly contributed towards Kitty King and Vendredi Biats’ win in the Superflex CIC3*.
“Although he’s been very
consistent at two-star level, we’ve had issues turning left at three-star level this season and I nearly withdrew him last week as I wasn’t happy that he would do himself justice,” said Kitty.
“However, Ros Morgan came up to help me and we tried him in a hackamore with a snaffle for showjumping and a Myler combination across country and it was a bit of a lightbulb moment. He responds much better to pressure on his nose than in his mouth and this change enabled him to display his talent here.
“I like Hartpury and it’s been a happy hunting ground for me in the past,” added Kitty. “The ground was excellent and the cross-country was lovely to ride
round. I felt all the combinations were fair if you rode them at the correct canter. Younger horses will have learnt a lot and more experienced ones should have had a good confidence-building round.”
The 2016 Le Lion seven-yearold runner-up led from start to finish and completed on 42.2, six penalties ahead of Willa Newton and the evergreen Neelix, who is nine years older than the winner, and who rose from 10th after dressage by adding just 1.2 cross-country time-penalties to a dressage score of 47.
“We pick our courses carefully for him now,” said Willa. “He loves Hartpury and he always feels good off the surfaces here.”
Ludwig Svennerstal was third with El Kazir SP, a horse whose only other run at this level was at Hartpury back in 2015 with former jockey Paolo Balvederesi.
“It’s only our third run together, but he’s very honest and bold,” said Ludwig. “He was very fresh in the dressage, which took me a bit by surprise, but he certainly has the movement and jump to be a really good horse and my plan is to target him at the Event Rider Masters series.”
Lauren Kieffer and her fourstar partner Veronica II picked up 20 penalties at the Magic pond at 14 — this fence, particularly the single rail coming out of the
water, was probably the most talked about on Eric Winter’s track and was also the site of Sharon Hunt’s fall with Veyga. Both combinations had been in equal fourth after dressage. The fence was described by riders as “an interesting and bold move” when they saw it, but it actually only resulted in penalties for four combinations.
Many riders use the CIC3* here as a prep run ahead of autumn three-days and, this year, they were presented with virtually perfect ground. Run on clay, the ground at Hartpury has had a reputation in the past for being notoriously hard, but the college’s ongoing investment to address this issue is certainly paying dividends in terms of increased entries and positive feedback.
Of the cross-country starters, 59% came home without jumping penalties with a further 15% failing to finish. Japan’s Toshiyuki Tanaka was the most serious casualty of the day after he fell from Balla Star Bay at the Baileys Brush at fence 18. He was taken to Gloucester Royal Infirmary, where he was later diagnosed to have broken a small bone in his neck, but is understood not to be in a serious condition.
SIMPLY THE BEST
“THAT was one of our best ever rounds,” exclaimed Willa Newton as she exited the showjumping arena having jumped a clear round to secure the Magic
CCI2* title with The Sandpiper Syndicate’s Moonlight Dance S. “What a girl!”
Despite all the success Willa has had to date as a junior, young rider and senior, this is her first three-day win and goes some way to making amends for the eightyear-old mare being spun at the first horse inspection at Tattersalls CCI2* in May after losing a shoe just before the trot-up.
“She’s quite feisty so I always knew she’d take longer to produce than some of my other youngsters, but I really rate her as she’s so bold and a clean jumper,” she added.
The pair led from pillar to post, adding just 0.4 of a time-penalty to a dressage score of 42.
Second place went to an equally ecstatic and somewhat shell-shocked Roberto Scalisi and Topaze Du Plain, who completed on their dressage score of 45.2.
“This is my first time riding at this level so I really didn’t know what to expect, other than the fact I know I’m on a good horse who I didn’t want to let down,” said Roberto, who is based at owner Ros Hayward’s yard in the Cotswolds.
“He’s a French thoroughbred and we’d got him very fit at home so he made nothing of the hills on the cross-country. To then jump a clear round on the final day is the stuff dreams are made of.”
Alicia Hawker and Nankin
Des Ruettes were third on 50.6, bettering their fifth place in the same class in 2014.
FIRST THREE-DAY SUCCESS
THE business end of the leaderboard was shuffled in the final phase of the Recover CCI*. There was a single fence between the top 10, and 12 faults from two-phase leaders Chloe Lynn and Calzini proved very expensive, dropping them down to eventual 26th and handing victory to 20-year-old Amelia Walker and E Boy, who completed on their
dressage score of 45.3.
“I’m ecstatic,” beamed Amelia. “This is our first three-day and the only clear round he’s jumped all season. He can be quite sharp and opinionated and I was worried about how he’d react to the atmosphere in the dressage and showjumping, but he loves attention and clearly thought everyone was there just for him. It was the longest cross-country track I’ve ever ridden but I loved it — you could really ride forwards.”
Mark Ford and Mintridge Larkspur finished second on
45.7 in the horse’s first CCI* completion — the pair had to withdraw from Houghton earlier in the year after the seven-yearold threw a splint.
“He was bred by my girlfriend Eleanor Barrett’s parents, and we first saw him in the field just after he’d been weaned, so it’s been really nice producing him this far,” said Mark.
Young rider Lizzie Baugh repeated her third place in the class from last year, this time with B Exclusive, another CCI debutante. Another seven-yearold, the gelding certainly has the pedigree for the job — he is by Bazaars Exclusive (himself by Welton Crackerjack), who also sired Chris Burton’s three-star horse Monarchs Exclusive.