The day started and finished with snow - Clark Mongomery and Loughan Glen just finish their test as it starts to snow again
Snow had been forecast for the area around Belton Park but it was still a bit of a shock for riders, organisers and officials to wake up to a white world early on Saturday morning for the second day of the Belton International Horse Trials. The Twitterverse was quickly spreading the news that the cross country course was now covered in a thin white carpet
As lorries were pulled in to the event by tractor the Event Director Stuart Buntine quickly made the decision to cancel the Intermediate classes scheduled to take place today but to go ahead with the CIC3* Grantham Cup (dressage phase), the Advanced ( dressage and show jumping phases) and the CIC2*(all phases).
As it turned out, once the gently falling snow stopped and the breeze picked up a bit, the ground was quickly in surprisingly good condition and the cross country action could kick off, albeit behind schedule at around 1pm. The sun even came out for a while and it wasn’t until late in the afternoon, while the CIC2* Section L riders were out on cross country, that the wet weather returned with a vengeance
The CIC2* Section K had show jumped as planned but their cross country took place a few hours later than anticipated
Tim Cheffings picks up his prizes for the Listers Mercedes Benz CIC2* Section K (sadly, no car)
“Unfortunately we had already left to get here for my scheduled start at about 8:30am so I didn’t even get a lie-in” laughed Tim Cheffings, winner of the class on his eight year old Donateur. Tim, the winner of Mark Todd Bridging the Gap scholarship last year, is a professional rider based in Devon but the win in this class has made the journey north worthwhile
“I knew he could be really competitive” said Tim “It’s just a case of getting all three phases right at the same time. We had a few blips last year after he injured a shoulder in a paddock accident; the vet thought all was fine but when we went back to competition he seemed to really struggle with drop fences so it took a while to get back on full form”
“I was a bit cautious on the drop fences here, which is probably where we picked up a few time faults and it was definitely a decent track with lots of tough questions and plenty of places to catch you out. The ground was great though – amazing to think that we walked the course in the morning when it was completely covered in snow and a few hours later, the going was just perfect”
Tim and Donateur, who finished on a score of 49.40, will now head to Houghton Hall with the 8/9 Year Old Class at Blenheim in their sights for later in the year.
Ludwig Svennerstal had a busy (and muddy) day at the office
Tim beat off some strong competition with Flora Harris close behind in second place riding Monart’s Masterpiece on 49.90 and Chris Burton in third place riding TS Jamaimo on 50.20. Flora also finished second in the CIC2* Section L which was won by Ludwig Svennerstal on his girlfriend’s 10 year old Master Ping, or ‘Ludwig’s Totilas’ as he told us in this interview
Ludwig Svennerstal
Ludwig went into the cross country phase in catch up mode as Andrew Hoy led after the dressage and show jumping phases on a score of 42.20 but, with the pouring rain and a sudden drop in temperature, Andrew opted for a steadier round and picked up 12.40 time penalties to finish fourth behind Flora on Billy Bandit and Pippa Funnell on Billy Walk On.
The day continued in the dressage arena for riders in the CIC3* Grantham Cup with a few changes at the top of the leader board but Bettina Hoy still holds the number one spot riding Seigneur Medicott on 33.20. Chris Burton led this class for much of the day on Friday riding Santano II but it is now his 11 year old bay gelding Nobilis 18 that is in second place with a score of 34.50 and Ireland’s Aoife Clark riding the 10 year old Fernhill Adventure just crept in front of Laura Collett’s Grand Manoeuvre for third place on 36.20.
Chris Burton and Nobilis 18
Oliver Townend, who is aiming for a second leg win of the TriStar Eventing Grand Slam here after his win at Burnham Market, is riding Black Tie II, the horse he was to take to Rolex Kentucky but is now Badminton-bound. They are currently in 11th place on 39.10, well within striking distance of the leaders tomorrow to chase the tempting £50,000 on offer
The last rider of the day into the CIC3* arena was last year’s winner, the USA’s Clark Montgomery on Loughan Glen. The weather during his ride summed it all up; during a break in the dressage the rain had poured down but then the skies cleared for bright sunshine only to snow in the last few seconds of Clark’s test followed by hail
Yes, it was a bit of a crazy weather day at Belton International
