Sammi Birch and Hunter Valley II
With half of the field yet to go in the Equi-Trek CCI3* at Bramham Horse Trials in Yorkshire, Australia’s Sammi Birch once again leads the field on the only sub-40 score so far of 38.7 riding her homebred Hunter Valley II
A delighted Sammi said; “Fantastic to get a sub-40 score! We’ve come here straight from Tattersalls where we had a ‘blip’ but I’m very much looking to put that right. I’ve come here very relaxed…almost like I didn’t care quite so much. I know he’s very capable in the dressage but I’ve really been looking forward to jumping the cross country. I came here for that reason so I was relaxed, and so was he, so that makes it better. Competition pressure is a massive issue but if you take that aside, it becomes so much easier.”
She’s very much looking forward to Saturday’s cross country challenge; “It’s a serious track – but really looking forward to it! I’ve never been here before – it’s amazing, incredible. You need a fit, good cross country horse but the course is scary but beautiful and very clever. If you jump around here, the horse is definitely ready for four star” Before Saturday, Sammi has the small matter of dressage on her other ride, Court Jester, to complete tomorrow.
Sammi Birch
In second place is Lauren Shannon, riding Claire Poole’s Quality Purdey while Huddersfield-born Oliver Townend lies third with the second of his three rides in the CCI class, William and Linda Bowen’s eye-catching dun, Sandiman II (below) by the KWPN jumping stallion Ekstein.
In the British Equestrian Trade Association CIC3*, Germany’s Pia Munker and Louis M (above) kept up their stunning dressage record with a 39.3 to head the leader board after dressage – the pairing have never posted over 40 at three star level however rumour has it that Pia may be withdrawing before the cross country phase
Last year’s Bishop Burton College u25 champions Holly Woodhead and DHI Lupison (below) came close at the end of the day to toppling Pia but was just 0.7 behind on 40 penalties to lead the British challenge. Holly, who’s suffering from a bout of ‘flu, said after her test; “I’m overwhelmed with him – especially as I’m not on top form. He was brilliant – he tried his heart out and really looked after me in there. He was really rideable which helped so I’m extremely happy; he clearly likes this place and it’s my favourite event. ‘Luke’ likes to be number one! I’m off to rest – and then walk the cross country – I’m an northern girl, I’ll just get on with it!”
Jenny Caras and Fernhill Fortitude
Nine of the 19 combinations in the Bishop Burton College Under 25 CCI3* division performed their dressage test in front of the Ground Jury of PollyAnn Huntington (AUS), Christina Klingspor (SWE), and Les Smith (GBR). Under the guidance of USEF Eventing Developing Rider Coach Leslie Law, Jenny Caras had an excellent test with Fernhill Fortitude to sit atop the leaderboard with a score of 48.9 at the end of the first day of competition
Caras is competing at Bramham as part of the Karen Stives European Developing Tour with the help of a Karen Stives Endowment Fund for High Performance Eventing Grant. She rode with poise in her European debut to impress the judges with a solid test on her own Fernhill Fortitude. Caras and the 2004 Irish Sport Horse gelding displayed nice harmony and several quality movements, only having a bobble in the last change. They were rewarded with a score of 48.9, their best score to-date at the CCI3* level by seven points, to move into the lead.
“He was awesome. I rode him this morning around nine to loosen him up, then left him alone. I brought him over to the main ring this afternoon, and I was worried I came too early because he was feeling really good. I gave him a walk and picked him back up 15 minutes before the test,” Caras explained. “There was a lot of atmosphere in the ring, but he was calm and handled it well. He had a workmanlike test; the atmosphere actually helped me get him up in front. I did get a bit greedy and messed up one of our changes when I asked for it a bit early, but other than that I was really pleased with him.”
Kitty King and Ceylor LAN -currently third in the CIC3*
The Equi-Trek CCI3* continues with Richard Long and Ms Independent on Friday morning and the new Event Rider Masters starts with Kiwi Tim Price first out on Obos Cooley
