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The 2024 NAF Five Star BE80 champions were crowned at Bramham Park after a day of change on the leaderboard that saw well-judged jumping rounds rewarded.
A faultless day of jumping for Leicestershire-based rider Rachel Littlewood and her bay mare Fiancee moved them one step up to the top of the podium and the 2024 championship accolade, adding nothing to their dressage score of 29.9. An emotional Rachel punched the air as she crossed the finish line of Ian Stark’s cross-country course, before giving her steed a big kiss after realising they’d taken the lead.
The original plan for ‘Lottie’ this year was to qualify for the Badminton Grassroots Championships, but a slight injury meant Bramham became the focus in order to give the duo the best chance to get back to full fitness. However, coming to Yorkshire with no expectations of doing well made today’s win even more special.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic, but incredibly nail-biting!” said Rachel after the prize-giving in the Defender Main Arena. “Dressage isn’t our strong point, so when we were second on day one I was overwhelmed with that!
I was a little nervous going into today – the showjumps were a little on the small side for us and she’s prone to leaving a leg, but she was absolutely amazing! We had a few hairy moments cross-country, but she was still full of running at the end – I think she could have done it again! To do the lap of honour here has been something out of this world – I was in tears!”
Second place went to 18-year-old Beth Jones riding Fantasy Chilli, who added nothing to their dressage penalty score of 32.3 while Deborah Burrell and her own Imperial Tangle completed the top three on a score of 32.6.
