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There are three competitions going on at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials this week; the CCI*** which also incorporates the London 2012 Team Qualifier and the CIC*** for 8 and 9 year horses.
William Fox-Pitt and Bettina Hoy lead the CIC*** and CCI***
Today, the second day of dressage saw last week’s Burghley winner, William Fox-Pitt take the lead of 42.9 in the CIC*** on the 9 year old Oslo and equal 3rd place on Lionheart on 47.9. William said that both horses are quite excited to be at the event, having not had a run for a while but, despite Oslo being ‘rather sprightly’ and Lionheart ‘a bit tense’, he was very happy with the performance of both young horses. William certainly has a very impressive team of horses which includes 8 horses qualified for London 2012 – he certainly is not going to miss out on competing at his home Olympics! Separating William’s horses is the evergreen Mark Todd on NZB Campino on 43.1 and in 5th place is Australia’s Lucinda Fredericks on the lovely Latina 43 by Landor S. Bill Levett is in 11th place on Ballymore Rich Cat, Sam Griffiths and Paul Tapner are equal 31st.
Lucinda Fredericks and Latina 43
In the CCI***, dressage specialist Bettina Hoy took over the lead riding Lanfranco TSF with a score of 42.1. The Australians riding in the team event are currently placed individually;
Catherine Burrell and Urzo =19th 51.50
Bill Levett and One Two Many NJ 25th 52.70
Lucinda Fredericks and Nysa de Petra =47th 57.1
Brook Staples and Ever So Clever 29th 53.7
Although Australia is currently leading the London 2012 team qualifier, this is no dressage competition and the cross country tomorrow will present a different set of problems for the three teams. The team competitors will be first riders out on the course which, for only the second time, runs clockwise, giving a very different feel for horses and riders. It starts with open, galloping stretches through the park then works its way back to the busier area near the trade stands and arenas, making it hard to catch up any lost time in the earlier sections.
Eric Winter, course designer, says “As always with Blenheim cross country courses there is plenty of big jumping mixed in with technical questions – the time will be difficult to achieve. The answer for sure will be bold attacking riding and well trained horses”.
Equestrian Life asked Captain Mark Phillips about his opinions of the course, which he believes is quite a soft course. For the full audio podcast of his comments, click on the icon below
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