Lucinda - can she win again?
Express Eventing is back at the 2014 CLA Game Fair this weekend at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and two Australian riders, Sam Griffiths and Lucinda Fredericks, are in the line-up. Lucinda has won the title for the past two years and Sam is on a roll this year, winning Badminton and being named on the Australian team for Normandy and both will be coming here on good form.
Of course, the format is different to the normal eventing these guys are usually involved in, as a sport designed to showcase eventing to a more general audience. The horses and riders will compete on Sunday 20th in dressage, cross country and showjumping with each phase being held in the CLA Game Fair Main Arena, enabling spectators to watch the whole of the competition from one seat.
The freestyle dressage to music phase takes place first, with riders and horses required to undertake specific movements in the order they choose in a “Strictly Come Dancing” style environment. This is followed by the cross country phase in which entrants tackle challenging cross country jumps, trying to stay within the optimum time allowance for the course.
The showjumping phase finishes the day, with riders having the option to choose safety or challenge themselves to erase four points from their score by jumping the final ‘joker’ fence which is higher than all of the rest.
This year’s line up also includes third place getter at Badminton, Harry Meade as well as Austin O’Connor, Carol Pearson, Fiona Hobby, Jess Butler, Katy Hurst, Lucy Jackson, Mary-Anne Carpenter, Oli Smith, Rebecca Howe and Spencer Sturmey.
Lucinda won in 2012 and 2013 - watch how she and the legendary Headley Britannia performed last year
