An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Gatcombe International (2) - find out more here
Oliver Townend and Izzy Taylor dominated the Intermediate classes on Friday at the Whatley Manor International at Gatcombe Horse Trials with them taking two classes apiece; Izzy winning the Intermediate Section I on Springwind Vangelis and the Intermediate Section E on Hatacker while Oliver took the Open Intermediate Section G on Arklow Puissance and the Open Intermediate Section F on Newmarket Caro
But it was a very close call for the Section F win with Australia’s Ben Leahy chasing Oliver all the way. Riding the eight-year-old mare Feloupe, Ben finished on the same score of 33.6 as Oliver but Oliver’s faster time on cross country secured him the win
Originally from Western Australia and now running his own yard in Surrey, England Ben only returned to riding in June after a bad accident in Ireland in 2018 which left him with a broken tibia and fibula. After initially recovering in Ireland, Ben then returned to Australia for a long rehabilitation period as ligaments and tendons had also been damaged, so the second place at Gatcombe International was a welcome return to competition
The nine-year-old Feloupe started with a very good dressage score of 26.8 but Ben believes that there is more to come from the mare that was sent to him as a five-year-old ‘problem horse to fix’
Ben liked her so much that he decided to buy her and her 13th place in the Six-Year-Old class at Le Lion in 2017 and third place at the Ballindenisk 2* in the same year vindicated his decision.
“Everyone loves her” Ben said “She’s got a big heart and a willing brain – I get quite emotional talking about her”
While no rider made the time in the Intermediate classes at Gatcombe, Oliver produced the fastest time of the day with just 3.6 time penalties while Ben and Feloupe added 6.8, giving Oliver the win.
“If only I’d gone a little faster!” laughed Ben “It would have given me my first big win!”
It was still a very good effort as this class was packed with big names including Laura Collett riding Sir Papillon who finished third, the 3* class winner Alex Bragg riding Hester in fourth place, Ireland’s Aoife Clark riding Celus D Ermac Z in fifth and Georgie Spence in sixth. Two other Australian riders were also in the mix as Sammi Birch on Finduss PFB took 11th place and Sam Griffiths on Sea Summer Bay was 12th
The Intermediate class winners were (click on the links to watch their winning rides);
Intermediate Section D: Nicky Hill and Galley Proof
Intermediate Section E: Izzy Taylor and Hartacker
Open Intermediate Section F: Oliver Townend and Newmarket Caro
Open Intermediate Section G: Oliver Townend and Arklow Puissance
Intermediate Section H: Lauren Yallop and Hacien
Intermediate Section I: Izzy Taylor and Springwind Vangelis
Open Intermediate Section J: Phoebe Locke and Pica D’Or
Read our report from International and Novice classes here
