Bettina Hoy and Seigneur Medicott lead the individual CICO3* competition and are part of the leading German team
It was a case of saving the best for last at the Saracen Horse Feed Houghton International Horse Trials with the final two competitors in the CICO3* dressage topping the leader board this morning on a score of 35.3.
Germany’s Bettina Hoy riding Seigneur Medicott and New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell, both riding for their Nations Cup teams, put in two impressive performances to take the lead and they were joined by another Nations Cup competitor, this time for the USA, Hannah Sue Burnett riding Harbour Pilot on 37.2 in third place.
Watch Jesse Campbell in the video below
Wayne Garrick and Simply Sunny (!!) on course in the CCI1* as the storm came through
However later in the morning, which started hot and sunny, a thunderstorm blew through which halted proceedings due to pelting rain, thunder and lightning. Pippa Funnell had given herself plenty of time to warm-up Sandman 7 so when the thunder started to rumble, she headed straight back to the stables
“I’m terrified of thunder and lightning!” admitted Pippa “So I cantered back to the stables and luckily missed getting soaked. Then, when it blew over, I still had time to get back down to the arena and finish my warm up”
The disturbed warm-up still worked well with Pippa and Sandman 7 in seventh place on a score of 41.3 and a clear round in the show jumping bumping them up to third place heading into the cross country. By the time the CICO3* took place in the afternoon the rain had totally disappeared but the wind had whipped up and the arena crash crew had as much trouble keeping the fences up as the riders.
The USA's Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot dropped from third after dressage to 20th due to three rails
Several fences simply blew over and had to be re-built before riders could approach and the young son of event director, Alec Lochore, was kept busy holding on the top plank of the final fence for most of the session.
Billy The Biz seems unaware there is no top rail
This particular plank blew off just as Pippa was approaching on Billy The Biz and Pippa, knowing the rule that she could jump the fence ‘as seen’, simply popped over it without the top plank to finish with a clear round. It also blew off as Germany’s Julia Krajewski approached on Samourai Du Thot but Julia opted to circle and wait till the plank had been replaced but again finished with a clear round, putting her into second place after dressage and show jumping
Bettina Hoy also jumped a lovely clear round, this time with all fences intact, to keep the individual lead while Jesse Campbell and Cleveland sadly had two down to finish the day in seventh place
The big upward movers thanks to clear rounds in the show jumping were Will Furlong on his Nations Cup team horse Collien P2, moving from 16th to eighth and Laura Collett on Mr Bass, moving into 10th place from 20th
A rail down by Piggy French on her team ride Vanir Kamira has made Piggy the discard score for the British team at this stage and with another four penalties to add from Oliver Townend's Arctic Mouse, despite clears by both Will Furlong and Georgie Strang, the Germans have an overnight lead of just over 20 penalties.
Julia Krajewski and Samourai Du Thot
So German ridden horses hold four of the top five individual placings in the CICO3* at the close of play today with Bettina remaining in the lead, Julia Krajewski has climbed three places to second and Andreas Ostholt is in both fourth and fifth.
Piggy may have rolled a rail in the CICO3* but her performances in both the CCI1* and CCI2* so far have been flawless.
Piggy French and Morswood
She rode Moorswood to a fault free round across country, keeping her grip on the top spot in the CCI2* when her nearest rival after dressage, Caroline Powell, retired Flipper K on course. This enabled Laura Collett to move up a place to second, albeit almost four points off the pace with Dacapo and Gemma Tattersall also moved up one place to fourth on Billy Senora.
In the CCI1* Piggy also still tops the table with Jennifer Saunders's lovely Cooley Monsoon – a horse who has won twice this season and only once finished outside the top five. Gemma Tattersall's Billy Hopefull looked equally impressive to retain second place, while Mary King has climbed two places to third on King Bill. The biggest faller of the day was Germany's Josephine Schnaufer; third after dressage with Ronaldo, two refusals on course dropped her down to 66th place this evening.
Gemma Tattersall and Billy Hopefull
