Lucy Jackson and Superstition II
An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on cross country at
Gatcombe (1) - find out more here
Spring sunshine made a welcome appearance at Gatcombe (1) on 23 and 24th March.
Twenty-seven combinations came forward for the sole Advanced Intermediate section, with first to go, British rider Kitty King and Vendredi Biats making their mark from the off with just 24.6 dressage penalties, a clear 4.3 penalties ahead of their nearest challenger, Australia’s Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh.
Lucy Jackson and Superstition II shared equal third after this phase on 30.2 penalties.
63% of this section rolled one pole or more and Paulank Brockagh joined them by lowering a pole but it was the cross-country time penalties that were to prove the most influential with Superstition II, adding just two time penalties to steal ahead of Vendredi Biats and claim victory.
Paulank Brockagh came in third – some 6.7 penalties adrift of Vendredi Biats – and then there was a bit of a battle for the lower placings with Belle De Reve ridden by Italy’s Belvedersi Paolo in fourth and Shannondale Titan for Australia’s Bill Levett in fifth making quite the international line up.
However, the AI belonged to Lucy and Superstition II, owned by her long-term supporters and owners of Willy Do, the Greenlees family.
Lucy said, “I am just so lucky to have a horse like Superstition, he is the envy of everybody.”
In something of a family affair, Lucy’s sister, Sophie Lane, noted the gelding’s ability and attitude when he came to her to be backed and she produced him for Lucy, competing in Burghley Young Event Horse classes and in his first events.
Taking over the reins hasn’t been all plain-sailing and Lucy said, “He had an unlucky spill at Tattersalls last year when he landed steeply into the third water and it took some time to recover from his scrapes, so he missed out on a three-star at the end of last year”
Now Bramham-bound, Lucy adds “At the time I was so frustrated, but he feels so much stronger and ready”
With Lucy’s supportive father not being too well at the moment, Lucy said that “It was wonderful to be able to call him and tell him of our win – although he didn’t admit it, I think he probably already knew thanks to the live scoring!”
Though there were plenty of International contenders, it was a British clean sweep for the Intermediate and Open Intermediate sections.
Kitty King and Ceylor L A N
Millie Dumas and Universal Cooley looked to have OI section M in the bag – despite a rolled pole in the show jumping their astonishing 23.6 penalties in the dressage phase still put them in the top position.
However, a run out at the B element of a double of corners on a curving line at Fence 7 put them out of the order, enabling Kitty King and Ceylor L A N to take this section, finishing 0.6 penalties ahead of Oliver Townend and his Badminton-bound Ulises.
Millie was not alone in her mishap at Fence 7, with both the A and B elements causing much head-scratching, but Phoebe Locke who was in contention in both her sections put her 20 penalties on Ardeo Fun Size out of her mind when she then took Intermediate Section I with Bellagio Declyange.
A delighted Phoebe said “I’ve had Bellagio Declyange since October last year when we bought him from an amateur lady in France and he’s owned by PJA Capital. He’s done four events and won two of them, exceeding all expectations. He’s an exciting horse for me as he’s still very inexperienced at just eight years old but if all goes to plan my aim would be for Blenheim 8/9 year old CIC4* if I feel he is ready.”
Phoebe had led the dressage phase and still claimed victory despite a rolled pole but her rail down in section H proved more costly dropping a couple of places for eventual 10th on Cooley Challenger.
Phoebe Locke and Bellagio Declyange
In fact Section H, the first Intermediate section, was less beset by show jumping faults than later sections although the figures point to less than half of the intermediate combinations coming forward to this phase leaving the fences up.
A regular visitor to Gatcombe, coach Jo Rimmer explained that “The show jumping is always influential due to the atmosphere.”
In the most hotly contested section of the day, Jo took the top spot on Shannondale Lilly “I’m really lucky to have the ride while her owner, Louise Harman, is studying for her A Levels”
“Lilly is really level-headed and tries hard – in fact she can be rather too polite so as the cross-country time was tight, I just kept saying to myself, don’t touch the reins!”
They finished seven seconds outside the optimum time to finish 1.1 penalties ahead of Emma Hobday and Shadow Puppet who took the accolade of being one of only two combinations to complete on their dressage score.
Emma, who works alongside her husband, Ben, produces young horses and ponies for sale and said that “Shadow Puppet was class, he absolutely flew round the cross country track. He’s quite nippy and has a massive stride for being 15.2hh so made the time feel easy. He was a bit of a show off in the show jumping, jumping sky high, something he likes to do quite often. I know Ben would like to steal him off me if he had a chance.”
Emma also had a great Saturday ride in the Novice section with one to watch, Copperwood also finishing on his dressage score.
Emma says, “Ben’s been a good husband in letting me take the ride on Copperwood. He is a machine! He only started eventing this season having been a show jumper but we’re hoping to fast-track him up the grades as he’s taken to it so well.”
While Emma took the accolade for finishing on her dressage score, Katie Hancock claimed the cross-country crown as fastest finisher of the day, coming in six seconds under the optimum time of 5:30 for an eighth placing in Open Intermediate section L aboard Coddstown Pet, known as Gabby.
A thrilled Katie said, “We hadn’t planned to go to Gatcombe but when Pontispool was abandoned due to the weather, I managed to get on the waitlist for the OI. I could not believe how good the ground was, it was fantastic. Gabby produced a lovely test; a couple of mistakes were a bit costly but I’ve been working lots on my flat work with my dressage trainer, Georgia Stokes, in preparation of going Advanced next month so I can’t complain too much when Gabby throws in an unplanned flying change”
“I didn’t go cross country until late in the day and by then two things were clear, the corners at 7ab were causing a lot of problems and the time was pretty much impossible. After a lot of deliberating I decided to take the corners on a tighter 3 stride line which actually rode really well. I also decided not to review the minute markers as this was our first Intermediate run of the season and I didn’t want to apply pressure if we fell behind time"
"We nearly came a cropper at fence 17 when I turned sharply off a track to a stone wall which I saw before Gabby and unfortunately, she misunderstood me, totally my fault but she dug deep and got us over and cracked on with the job in hand. She finished so well, and I was amazed when I realised we ended up inside the time. I do work on her fitness a lot considering she’s half-Shire, but it’s results like this that just blow me away, she truly is a little super star”
Sitting just above Katie in this section for eventual seventh was the second combination to complete on their dressage score, Tregolls ridden by Izzy Taylor.
Izzy Taylor and Fonbherna Lancer
This was just one of a haul of prizes for Izzy who took victory in Intermediate section J with Fonbherna Lancer and second placing in Open Intermediate section K aboard PSH Gazelle, both of these horses notably notching up the best dressage scores of their sections.
Oliver Townend also came away with a clutch of rosettes – and (yet another!) An Eventful Life video – for his win with Cillnabradden Evo in OI section K, a second in OI section M with Ulises, and a third with Newmarket Caro in Intermediate section J.
But it wasn’t a total white-wash for the multi-rider, Adam Harvey, a Chartered Surveyor, heading up Open Intermediate section L with his own Picasso V. Ably supported by his mother, Vickie, Adam juggles his full-time job around his striking grey, Picasso, and on occasion produces a young horse for sale.
“Mum takes Picasso to the water treadmill at Wellington Riding for his fitness work and I think it has really helped Picasso build up in strength and fitness”
Although less than 20% thoroughbred, the flashy moving Picasso has proved he can gallop and Adam said, “I hadn’t intended to run him cross-country at Gatcombe because he is heading to Belton next weekend but the ground was so good and knowing he was in a great position still scoring 27.5 despite striking off on the wrong canter lead, I let him run”
The partnership is long-listed for the CCI3* European Cup Squad.
Adam finished ahead of Italy’s Ugolotti Giovanni who picked up 10.8 time penalties opting for a slower cross-country round as the cross-country continued to be influential pushing out the chances of other names in contention.
New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn, who otherwise had a good Gatcombe including third with Blackthorn Cruise in OI section M, had a run out at 7B on Florencina R.
The triple combination at fence 10 that caused trouble last year still claimed a few including Alex Hua Tian in this section, though he was redeemed with a placing aboard PSH Convivial and there was also a horse fall between fences as Faere Spirit slipped under Swedish rider, Line Anderson, despite numerous reports of the perfect conditions. Thankfully both were unhurt.
For the sun to have shone and the competition to have proved an all-round event with dressage, show jumping and cross-country proving influential was a fitting end to Pattie Biden’s run as Organiser as she announced her retirement.
Pattie said, “The competition was great and the riders and spectators all appeared to enjoy the event; apart from running a little late on Sunday. However, I am more than a little sad that this this will be my last Spring Gatcombe as Organiser.
Her hard work, and that of her team, makes Gatcombe I a real target of the spring calendar and all at An Eventful Life would like to thank her for her sterling work and wish her well.
Article by Anna Bruce
Photos by Tim Wilkinson
