Ireland’s Fred Scala produced a masterful round on Corriebeg Supernova to win today’s Ashby Underwriting Eventers’ Challenge, while last year’s victor Gemma Stevens had to settle for second and third place.
It was the first time Fred had taken part in the class at the Longines Royal International Horse Show, though he has always wanted to compete here at Hickstead. “I wanted to do this class forever growing up. This class was always a highlight each year, so it's just been a dream to win,” said the 34-year-old rider, who is from Co. Carlow but is now based in Derbyshire.
Although Fred incurred a 4 second penalty for knocking the second part of the Devil’s Dyke, he crossed the line in a time of 128.84sec to go into the lead. For a moment it looked like defending champions Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley, last to go, might knock Fred off the top spot – but when she also picked up a 4sec time penalty at the final fence, her time of 129.59sec relegated her to second place. She also produced the fastest round of the day on her other ride Santiago Bay, but with two fences down they finished on a total time of 130.52sec.
Gemma remained philosophical at missing out on back-to-back titles. “It’s not a bad day in the office, taking second and third – and it never gets old going in that arena. I’ve been incredibly lucky over the last couple of years and I've had plenty of spins round there in different classes, and honest to God, it never gets old cantering up the chute into the main arena. It’s just awesome,” she said.
Fred gave effusive thanks to the organisers and sponsors of this popular eventing showcase. “It was just great fun, and such a fun class – fast, a great course, the ground was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing, and the crowd was amazing,” he said.
