By Kate Green

 

Jonelle Price rode a sparkling cross-country round on Trisha Rickards and Jacky Green’s home-bred Faerie Dianimo to lead an antipodean whitewash in the prestigious CIC for 8 and 9-year-old horses at The Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.

 

The New Zealander’s dressage and showjumping score of 43.2 was sufficient to keep her in the lead – just – with 4.4 time penalties.

 

With the cross-country run in reverse order of merit, the competition came to an exciting climax against the clock as the optimum time of 6 minutes 49 seconds proved elusive.

 

Only three riders achieved it, the best of whom was fellow Kiwi Andrew Nicholson on Sally Egginton’s Cillnabradden Evo, a horse he has taken on this year from Lucy Wiegersma, who rose steadily up the order from 11th to second place, just 0.2 of a penalty behind the winners.

 

Third-placed Paul Tapner (AUS) was just one second over the optimum on Indian Mill and that cost him second place – he finished only 0.1 penalty behind Andrew.

 

Jock Paget (NZL) was fourth on Clifton Signature and Sam Griffiths (AUS), the dressage leader, was fifth on Favorit Z after adding seven showjumping penalties and eight across country.

France’s Thomas Carlile was the highest placed European and best of the Blenheim first-timers in sixth on Sirocco du Gers.

 

The leader after the first two phases, world bronze medallist Tim Lips from the Netherlands, was also paying his first visit to Blenheim. He rode a considered round on Bayro and dropped to seventh place with 15.2 penalties but still declared himself “very happy” with the result.

 

The main casualty among the higher placed riders after the first two phases was Britain’s Oliver Townend who had an awkward jump over the first brush into the water on Cooley Master Class and glanced off the second two strides later. 

 

Faerie Dianimo, a 16hh grey mare by Keystone Dimaggio, was produced by Jacky Green and Jonelle took her on as a six-year-old. 

 

Jonelle, one of the world’s most accomplished cross-country riders who was recently fourth in the World Equestrian Games, said: “I’m thrilled for the owners because this is such a prestigious class.

 

“The mare is a feisty little thing, as hot as you like and a right little diva in the yard. It’s taken time to harness her energy into the finished product, but of all my horses she is the most likely to score nines and tens in the dressage. She’s also as careful as a cat jumping.”

 

This popular class at Blenheim is often the precursor to great things. Three former winners – NZB Land Vision (Mark Todd, 2010), Oslo (William Fox-Pitt, 2011), and Quimbo (Andrew Nicholson, 2012) – went on to win Badminton, Pau and Kentucky four-stars respectively.