Stella Benatti and Zaron take to centre stage
The Barbury Castle Estate comprises 2000 acres of farmland, woodland and downland just outside Marlborough in Wiltshire, one of the hubs of eventing in England. Many top eventers are based in the area and, as always, the rider list is packed with top names across the classes.
This year, as well as the CIC3*, CIC2*, Novice, Intermediate and Pony class (whew!) there is also the the third leg of the Event Rider Masters (ERM) with £50,000 on offer for the winner here. With so much happening, things have to get going pretty quickly and the first day of dressage on Thursday saw the riders in the CIC3* Section B and CIC2* take to the arenas.
In the CIC3* Britain’s Laura Collett riding the flamboyant chestnut Grand Manoeuvre led the way for much of the day on a score of 42.6 but the second last rider of the day, Italy’s Stella Benatti riding Zaron sneaked ahead to take the lead on 42.2
Stella, who made the move from Italy to be based at Ascott Whychwood mid last year, finished second here at Barbury in 2015 on Zaron, her 12 year old Dutch bred gelding. Zaron has also been piloted around this course by the master of Barbury himself, Andrew Nicholson, in 2013 but didn’t fare quite so well that year.
Australia's Paul Tapner and Kilronan are just out of the top six in the CIC3*
As well as Laura in second place British riders are doing well in the top six placings with Tom McEwan and Staff Des Champs on 46.1, Paul Simms and Glengarnock on 48.8 and Alexander Whewell riding Chakiris Star and Oliver Townend and Note Worthy (49.7) in equal fifth place. The second day of dressage for the CIC3* continues tomorrow with some more big names coming up including Olympic riders Pippa Funnell on Billy the Biz and Gemma Tattersall on Quicklook V. Other ones to look out for are Andrew Nicholson on his Bramham winner Jet Set IV and Teseo and Oliver Townend on Armada. Australia’s Chris Burton is also in this class on two new horses; one of interest may be Polystar I who scored 35.2 in the CIC2* at Fontainebleau in March at his first start with Chris
Australians Chris Burton and Nobilis 18 (above) and Catherine Burrell (below) are on top in the CIC2* Section D
Chris is already leading two classes; in the CIC2* Section D he is in first place currently on one of his Olympic nominated horses, Nobilis 18 with a score of 35.6, a few points ahead of another Australian, Catherine Burrell riding Urzan is in second place on 40.5. Britain’s Flora Harris and Monarts Masterpiece are third on 42.3 and the Marlborough-based Andrew Nicholson fourth on 43.4.
In the Novice Section F Chris and Fire Fly are ahead on a cracking score of 19.3 with New Zealander Neil Spratt and First Lancer on 25.0 and Britain’s David Doel on Cracker Jack II on 26.3
William Fox-Pitt and Secret Night
In the CIC2* Section C William Fox-Pitt leads on a relatively new ride for him also, Secret Night, with a score of 41.1 and the American rider Tiana Coudray is in second place on Murray Lamperd’s Australian off the track thoroughbred Under the Clocks (46.2). Murray had been hoping to get back to the UK this year to compete Under the Clocks himself; family and work commitments have kept him in Australia but Tiana is doing a great job in his absence! Ireland’s Jonty Evans on his Olympic horse Cooley Rorkes Drift is in third place (46.7)
Tom McEwen and Joyride (44.2) currently lead the CIC2* Section E, followed by Andrew Nicholson riding Byrnesgrove First Diamond and Flora Harris with Moylaw Badger
Tom McEwen and Joyride
The Novice classes complete tomorrow and the Retraining of Racehorse (RoR) championship is also one of the features of the day. Seventeen former racehorses and riders are taking part with the top ten finishers returning on Sunday to show jump for the RoR Eventing Championship. With a total of £6,000 available in prize money, generously sponsored by the National Trainers’ Federation (NTF), the RoR competition is hot with eventing riders such as Tina Cook and Harry Meade taking part as well as former jockey Kelly Harrison
Ex-professional jockey Kelly Harrison, who regularly rode for established trainers such as William Haggas before retiring in 2013, will be competing on her own Daredevil Boy (below) in the Retraining of Racehorse (RoR) championship.
Daredevil Boy, a son of the National Hunt sire Beneficial, failed to make an impression in his two starts as a racehorse. The only notable aspect of his short-lived racing career being that his finished behind a horse named Medinas - subsequent winner of the 2013 Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. However, Daredevil Boy has found a new calling competing at Eventing and in doing so he has helped his owner ‘fill the void of not race-riding’.
Kelly Harrison said: "I got Daredevil Boy from Jo Hughes in Lambourn three and a half years ago. He really helped me with retiring from being a jockey, as I wanted to continue competing at something, so focusing on re-training and competing him helped fill the void of not race-riding”.
"It has taken a bit of time (for Daredevil Boy) to adapt to his role as an Event horse, as initially he had to learn to settle but he always showed promise, particularly in the cross-country phase. This season he has felt great and I have had my eye on the RoR class at Barbury for a while and I feel he is now ready. I have never been to Barbury before, I hear its stunning and it's really exciting to be competing at such a high profile event".
See you all tomorrow!
