Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent take an early win of the season at Oasby (1)
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Three of the Team GB heroes of 2021 - Oliver Townend, Nicola Wilson and Piggy March - all started the season well at Oasby (1), with all three taking wins in the Open Intermediate sections on Friday
Nicola and Piggy were both riding their European Championship mounts, with Nicola winning the Open Intermediate Section J on JL Dublin after starting on a good dressage score of 24.8 and adding just 1.6 time penalties on cross country. They won on a score of 26.4, ahead of Phoebe Locke on Pica D’Or (28.6) and Heidi Coy on Carrigsean Tigerseye (28.9).
Piggy March took fourth place in the Section J on Brookfield Quality but came out on top of the Open Intermediate Section M riding Brookfield Inocent, winning on their dressage score of 27.5. Olympic team gold medallists Laura Collett and London 52 started ahead of Piggy in the dressage but a dropped rail in the show jumping moved them down to second place (28.8) while Emily King and Valmy Biats took third (32.2)
Oliver Townend took the Open Intermediate Section I on one of his up and coming horses, the talented eight-year-old grey mare Cooley Rosalent. It was the mare’s first start since finishing seventh in the 7-Year-Old World Young Horse Championship at Le Lion late last year, but she put in a fast cross country time, just 0.4 penalties added, to take the win
While the big names took the Open Intermediate classes, a Frenchman and a past British Young Horse Champion took the Intermediate sections.
France’s Victor Burtin, team gold medallist at the Young Rider European Championships in 2018, and his 14-year-old Irish bred gelding Sir Corcelot had a good start to the season, winning the Intermediate Section L on their dressage score of 37.2
24-year-old Victor, who based himself with Oliver Townend for a few years and now runs his own yard at Oliver’s Gadlas Farm, produced a clear show jumping and the fastest time of 2.4 penalties on cross country to take the win ahead of Britain’s Eliza Stoddart on Idonna W
Eliza enjoyed her own win however in the Intermediate Section H on Codebreaker, with another fast time on cross country and clear jumping phases, finishing on a score of 26.4. The German bred Codebreaker showed his promise early in his career, winning the British 5-Year-Old Championship at Osberton in 2019 and has started this season well with a third place in the Open Novice at Poplar Park last week before taking the win here
