The final day started foggy once again at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials as the CCI3* competitors presented their horses at the final inspection.
Seven horses were withdrawn before show jumping which included Andrew Hoy’s Cheeky Calimbo and Sam Griffith’s Isle Valley while Niklas Bschorer’s Win or Love and Beanie Sturgis’ Lebowski were both held and not accepted on re-presenting. It must have been very disappointing for Andrew, who was in fifth place after the cross country but decided that, as Cheeky Calimbo had pulled two front shoes off during the cross country phase and was feeling the effects, he should be saved for another day
Blenheim is an event jam packed with action with its two days of cross country. On Sunday it was the turn of the CIC3* 8/9 Year Old horses to thunder around the Eric Winter cross country course that followed a similar route to that of the CCI3* but was shorter with fewer jumping efforts while the lower placed CCI3* competitors show jumped in the morning, leaving the top 28 for the Grand Finale in the afternoon.
CIC3*
Although the cross country is the final phase for CIC3* it is not run in reverse order which is a shame as it certainly adds to the excitement for the spectators when the tension gradually mounts. The British rider Ian Wills riding Hartpury Sky Is The Limit went early in the day and posted a double clear round to move him from tenth into the lead where he stayed for quite a while. Sidney Dufesne was one of two French riders in the top ten but his horse Tresor Mail, by the popular stallion Jaguar Mail, picked up 8.4 time penalties moving him down from third to eighth place while Pippa Funnell, in sixth place on Maja’s Hope after the show jumping, had a wry smile on her face when she had a run out at the Anniversary Steps – the same place that she had a run out the day before with Billy The Biz in the CCI3*. Whereas Pippa opted to retire Billy The Biz the day before she continued on with Maja’s Hope as a schooling round and no doubt she will be working on skinny fences as part of her training with these two
The top two riders heading into the cross country phase were Jonelle Price (above) and Jonty Evans in first and second places respectively and Jonelle had a handy 10.6 penalties up her sleeve thanks to a fabulous dressage test from Cloud Dancer II, a horse naturally gifted in this discipline. Cloud Dancer is by San Remo, a stallion that finished fifth in the 2004 Pavo Cup Finals for 4-year olds ridden by Edward Gal and there is more dressage breeding with his dam sired by Sandro Hit but, as Jonelle told us in our video interview, he doesn’t yet have the speed she usually likes in her horses. They had a moment at the coffin fence, the most influential fence on course with two eliminations and three refusals, then travelled well around the course but, as Jonelle predicted, picked up 8.8 time penalties.
Jonty Evans and Cooley Rourke’s Drift (above) had an anxious wait after finishing their round just before Jonelle; they had enjoyed a fabulous ride with just two time penalties and Jonty was delighted with the horse that he found by doing a good turn
Jonty’s two time penalties were expensive however when the young Frenchman Astier Nicholas (below) on his ‘favourite’ horse Spes Addit’Or, known as Ronaldo at home after the Brazilian footballer, with Rio in mind, completed clear and under time, just 2.4 penalties behind Jonelle and 1.4 penalties in front of Jonty
Spes Addit’Or, who has been ridden by Astier for the past three years, has been out of competition for a year so Astier felt they were a little rusty together
“We gave him a lot of time to recover from the injury because we rate him so much and didn’t want to take any risks” says Astier “He only came back to competition in mid-August but since then he’s done one Intermediate, one Two Star and one Three Star and he’s been so consistent. I kind of expected him to do well here but I’m a bit frustrated with myself – because it’s been a year since we really competed together and he’s changed a bit in that time, grown up a bit, I wasn’t perfectly with him in the show jumping and I think that cost us a rail”
“It was a little mistake and one that could have cost us a win but maybe also Jonelle would have gone faster if I’d have been closer in the scores! I’m sure that, with Jonelle’s temperament and the motivation to win, she could have gone faster! So I won’t regret not getting the win ...!”
Of the nine double clear rounds on cross country seven finished in the top ten but two riders, Fiona Breach riding Drumhowan Black Magic and Olivia Craddock riding Billy Liffy made good jumps up the leader board with their clear rounds.
CCI3*
The CCI3* winner Clark Montgomery admitted that it hasn’t all been plain sailing since he made the move to the UK but that it is all now starting to pay off, especially with this win
“I moved here because this is where the top level competition is and you have to be constantly competing at this level if you want to improve and win” said Clark
The 34 year old who originally hails from Texas and his 12 year old Irish Sport Horse Loughan Glen that has been with him since a five year old, have had a good lead up to this event with wins at Belton and Somerford Park and a sixth place in the CCI4* at Luhmuhlen. They know this course well, having placed here two years (above) ago and Clark didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, leading from go to whoa and heading into the show jumping arena for the big finale with two rails in hand
“It’s still nerve wracking – you really don’t want to use the two rails you have and you never know if you’re going to have more than two. His technique isn’t the most normal but he always tries really hard; I was definitely a little surprised because he felt a little more tired than normal, even in the warm up, but he tried at every fence and came home clear”
Listen to the full interview with Clark here
He certainly had some strong competition with Chris Burton (above) and Kitty King finishing in second and third places after jumping foot perfect rounds. Chris has had some great results lately, including third and fourth at Burghley, and he’s hoping that his horse Nobilis 18, who he considers a ‘real 3 Day Event horse’ will be heading to Badminton in the spring
Chris Burton
Kitty King (above) too is on a roll, having just returned with a silver medal from Blair Castle, and her young horse Ceylor LAN who ‘has been a winner from the start’ added nothing to their dressage score of 44.4 during the event
There were three more British ladies in the top ten with rising stars Gemma Tattersall in fourth place, Flora Harris making a point to the selectors in eighth place on Bayano and Dani Evans on Raphael in ninth. New Zealand’s Tim Price couldn’t quite emulate his wife’s win but he finished in fifth on The Court Jester, a horse that now returns to his original rider, Australian Sammi Birch
America also had two in the top ten with Lauren Keiffer riding Veronica in sixth place, winning the award for the highest placed first-timer at Blenheim, and Emily Beshear riding Shame On The Moon (owned by Deep Purple Eventing which is self-explanatory when you see the support group’s colours but makes you initially wonder if Emily has connections in the rock and roll world akin to that of Jessica Springsteen) in seventh place.
Australia’s Kevin McNab (above) rounded out the top ten with a clear round from his Australian thoroughbred Dustman that was a last minute stand-in for Casperelli when he wasn’t quite right a few days before the event. Bill Levett’s Alexander NJ also finished the competition on his dressage score of 52.8 in 17th place
Six countries were represented in the top three of the CCI3* and CIC3* at Blenheim and all are rising stars of the eventing world – is this a sign of the changing of the guard?
