Jonelle Price and Classic Moet
After Saturday’s white out at Belton Park, it was positively balmy on Sunday with Spring sunshine and a light breeze to dry out the ground, making it a perfect day for eventing.
New Zealand’s Jonelle Price certainly had a spring in the stride of her 13 year old Classic Moet as she made her way around the Capt Mark Phillips Advanced course. This black mare owned by Trisha Rickards that came up trumps for Jonelle at both the 2014 World Equestrian Games and Burghley last year is a cross country machine and they certainly weren’t hanging around here. They posted the fastest time of the day with only two time penalties to add to their dressage score of 32.90 and this result sets them up very well for the next big ‘B event’ at Badminton
Another top lady rider, Laura Collett had a small advantage over Jonelle with a dressage score of 31.50 and she maintained it with a clear show jumping round on Cooley Again but 8.8 time penalties on cross country left her in second place. Oliver Townend could not catch her, even though he was the only rider to go clear and under time, setting out at a cracking pace and keeping it up all the way round on Samuel Thomas, to finish in third place on 42.10
The dressage leader Sarah Bullimore on Valentino V had unfortunately added eight show jumping penalties to their very good dressage score of 28.8 but she was still in the hunt as they set out on cross country. The next section of Advanced was already underway when Sarah got going but she made good time to finish in fourth place with only 5.6 time penalties ahead of Lauren Shannon on Quality Purdey and Jodie Amos on Figaro Van Het Broekxhof. When we spoke to Jodie on Friday after her win in the Novice she said she was just going for a canter around but they actually put in one of the fastest times of the day with only 3.6 time penalties
A clean pair of heels from Oliver and Cillnabradden Evo
The speed star of the day however was Oliver Townend. Oliver replicated his round in the previous Advanced class by going clear and under time on ODT Ghareeb in the Advanced Section O to take the lead then beat himself by doing the same thing on Dunbeau for first and second place with Dunbeau on 34.2 and ODT Ghareeb on 33.8 – the only rider to jump double clear on cross country in both Advanced classes.
It looked as if he would pull off the same trick in the Grantham Cup CIC3*, topping off the day with a clear round under time on Cillnabradden Evo and moving into ninth place overall, but the last rider on course and the eventual winner Chris Burton joined him in that exclusive club. Oliver was also riding Black Tie II in the 3* class but withdrew him before cross country and is now waiting to see what happens with the ground at Badminton before making any decisions as to where the horse that ‘likes to run on top of the ground’ will head next
Oliver Townend
The main class on Sunday, the Grantham Cup CIC3* class is now one of the most hotly contested competitions in the lead up to Badminton and this year the entry list was huge with 130 plus starters from 11 countries. Swedish rider Niklas Lindback was one who had come for a quick visit to England specifically for Belton, bringing two horses Cendrillon and Focus Filiocus
Niklas Lindback and Focus Filiocus
“I knew that whatever the weather here I would get to run the horses” said Niklas, who has just become a father again and so was heading straight back home after the event “I wasn’t counting on snow here – that’s what I thought I would get at home! Friends were sending me pictures of sunny weather in Sweden when they heard it was snowing here – they thought it was very funny I’d travelled all that way for snow!”
Bettina Hoy and Designer 10
Johan Lundin was the best placed of the several Swedish riders in the CIC3* riding the 13 year old grey gelding Johnny Cash but it was France and Germany that posed the biggest European threat. Germany’s Bettina Hoy led from the start with a winning dressage test score of 33.2 riding Seigneur Medicott and followed it up with a 38.2 on Designer 10. A rail in the show jumping cost Bettina her lead but she could not have been happier with the performance of the 10 year old Seigneur Medicott who had a small blip on cross country at Burnham Market recently but has come back strongly after some advice from super coach Christopher Bartle
Thomas Carlile led French assault and very nearly had his name engraved on the prestigious Grantham Cup. Like Bettina and Chris Burton, Thomas had two horses that really made their mark, starting with second place after the dressage on the French Young Horse champion Upsilon and ninth on Quiro Hoy. The impressive looking eight year old grey stallion Upsilon rolled a rail in the show jumping but his stable mate Quiro Hoy jumped clear then added only 0.8 time penalties on cross country.
Thomas Carlile and Upsilon
Thomas had to head to catch a ferry due to commitments the next day in France so jumped around the cross country early in the afternoon rather than at the end of the day when the top 20 combinations ran in reverse order. No doubt he was keeping an eye on the live scoring and live streaming as he headed to the ferry and, with no-one matching his result as the day wore on, the officials were calling for ‘connections of Thomas Carlile’ to be present at the presentations in his absence. Only Oliver Townend and Cillnabradden Evo had jumped clear and under time out of 108 starters and there was only one rider left to go – Australia’s Chris Burton on Nobilis 18.
In our interview with Chris, he said that Nobilis18 hit Fence 4 quite hard but the pair then had a great run and they came in just 0.02 off the optimum time. Chris Burton had not only won the Grantham Cup but also the second leg of the Tri-Star Series
Aoife and Fernhill Adventure
Ireland’s Aoife Clark and Britain’s Gemma Tattersall finished in fifth and sixth places, making it a truly international top six. Aoife and her Irish Sport Horse Fernhill Adventure were third place after the dressage and they continued to put the pressure on by jumping clear in the show jumping. However 6.4 time penalties left them fifth place overall after an impressive performance during the weekend.
Gemma Tattersall and Chico Bella P
Gemma Tattersall riding Christopher Stone’s Chico Bella P was the top finisher of the British riders, moving up after the dressage with a clear show jumping and fast cross country round. Laura Collett, third after the dressage, was not so lucky with a fall at the Lycett’s Labyrinth from Grand Manoeuvre. The fence that caused the most problems on course however was Fence 7 and it was here that the young Brazilian rider, Gabriel Cury retired his horse Grass Valley; sadly Grass Valley was later put to sleep
On Saturday morning, looking out on a white world at Belton, it was hard to believe that the feature class of the event would go ahead in brilliant sunshine with the crowds flocking in to watch the cross country (some even in shorts and eating ice cream!) But the decision not to run the Intermediate classes on Saturday was a good one and the riders that came here for a good run before Badminton certainly got what they came for; let’s hope the weather is kinder in a few weeks time in Gloucestershire
