Philippa Hendry held her nerve to secure victory in the British Eventing LeMieux BE100 Grassroots Championship at Badminton Horse Trials, maintaining her overnight lead to finish on a score of 24.8 riding Flyer Des Coupeaux. After posting an exceptional dressage score of 19.8, she added a clear cross-country round and just a single pole in the show jumping to take the title.
“It feels amazing, I’m over the moon with the horse,” said Philippa of her 11-year-old French gelding. “The course was beautiful and rode really well, and all those years of hard work paid off.”
The result marks the culmination of a long journey for the partnership – Philippa has owned him since he was three and has have done everything with him.
“It’s been a long road,” she explained, referencing early challenges including his dislike of water and a cleft palate that required surgery. “Due to his respiratory issues, and me being 61 now, we’re happy staying at this level and in our comfort zone. I don’t want to push him while he’s enjoying himself.”
Support from her team also played a key role in her success. “My dressage trainer Rob Wayne came up yesterday to help before my test, and Kylie Roddy warmed me up for today’s jumping. I’m just so happy to have made them proud and show that the hard work all these years has paid off.”
As we previously discovered Philippa is a fantastic role model for GOERS (Getting Older Eventing Riders) and last year topped the EHOA Veterans League for the second year running.
Emily Proud, last year’s BE90 champion, finished runner-up with BallyJ Ed on 27.1, while Ollie Rowlands and Project Pony’s Loughan Silver Shadow claimed third, finishing on their dressage score of 29.
Holly Jessett wins BE90 Championship
In the BE90 Grassroots Championship, Holly Jessett also led from the front to take the title with Lombard Lad, adding nothing to her dressage score of 27.1 in a composed and confident performance.
“It feels pretty amazing – I can’t put it into words,” said Holly, who has partnered the 13-year-old Irish gelding for seven years. “This is our third time here. We’ve been doing BE100’s for the past year so he’s quite confident at that level but when we get to the regionals he has a bit of a problem going cross-country. We’ve worked really hard over the winter doing lots of dressage and show jumping, and he’s been going really well this season.”
Her father, Howard, highlighted the emotional significance of the result: “It means everything. We’ve been coming for many years, including with my daughter Becky, and it’s great that the hard work has paid off. There’s always that little bit of doubt with him cross-country, but he’s aced it today.”
Natasha Bailey took second place with Wild Confetti on 28.3, while Olivia Turner and Odin Van De Koolhof finished third on the same score.
