Horse & Hound – 22 August 2019

22 August 2019Horse& Hound 55

Picture

by

Suzanne

Jones

SHREWSBURY

FLOWERSHOW

9-10 August

ShrewsburyFlowerShow,

QuarryLodge,Shrops

MENNELLWATSONmaxedon

hisfinaldrawtoclaimthe£2,000

areatrialwinningswiththegame

stallionWhisperInTheWind.

“He’shada littlerunofbad

luckbutit allcamerighttoday,”

saidMennell.

Eighteeninitiallycontested

course-designerNigelJess’

12-fencetrackandtheclass

andsunshinedrewenthusiastic

spectatorsasriderstackledthe

varioustestsandquestions.The

threeinitialclearswerejoinedby

twofastfour-faulters,butorder

wasmaintainedasthethreeclears

filledthetopthreeplaces.

KeithShorewasincontention

untilMysticHurricanefellfoul

oftwoverticalsandit wasleftto

penultimate-drawn Phillip Miller

Finaldrawprovesluckyforonerider, while freak weather

forces unfortunate cancellations

toseta cleantargetonDarona.

Buthelefta marginandMennell

wastighterandquickeronHelen

vanHeyningen’shome-bred

Cobrettix MrMajestic11-year-old

tocutalmostfivesecondsaway.

“Hehasn’tdonemanyshows

latelyandwascoveringa mare

twodaysago;he’sready to go

now,” said Mennell.

“Itriedtokeephimrunning

withoutpushingorpulling.I had

to‘freewheel’,whichmakeshim

thinkwhereheputshisfeet—he

wasn’tbuckingandkickingtoday

andhadtoconcentrate.Itwasa

goodcoursebutI didn’tneedto

taketheturnoptions.”

Philliphadtosettleforsecond

on Darona, a Zidane x Silverstone

11-year-oldboughtoutof

BrightwellsSalesasanunbroken

three-year-old.

“Hewasamazingasa

youngsterandsteppeduptoarea

trialsandstairwayclasseseasily,

buta leginjuryputhimoutfor 18

monthsandheonlycameback

thisyear,”saidPhillip.“Hejumped

babyclassesatfirstjusttogethim

fit,butsoongotbackinandhe’s

beenverygoodthisyear.

ThewinearnedMennellentry

toBolesworthCSI2*classesin

2020 andhesharedtheleading

riderawardwithMillieAllen,

winnerofthespeedclass.

Milliemadeherfirstvisit

herea winningoneasshe

commandeeredtheopening

BrewinDolphinchallengestakes

withChantalV.

BenWalkerpostedanearly

targetwithhisopeneronWarriors

CremebutMilliesecuredan

unbeatableleaddespiteBen

challengingtwicemore.

“Chantal’snaturallyquick,

funtorideanda propertrier

witha bigstride—I easilygot

tothelastoxeronsevenwhile

othersstruggledtodoeight,”said

Millie, on the final fence that

BySUZANNEJONES

‘It all came right today’

RAINGODS

STRIKEAGAIN

LIKEmanyshowsacross

thecountry,Shrewsbury

fellvictimtotheweather.A

freakthunderandlightning

stormgreetedcompetitors

inthethirdclassoftheday

aftera previouslysunny

outlook.

It forcedorganisersto

canceltheFrankTanner

memorialcupastherain

floodedpartofthewarm-up

arenaand,asthegrounds

heredryoutquickly,they

hopedtosavethegoingfor

thefollowingday.However,

moreovernightrainmade

thisimpossibleand,after

anassessmentonSaturday

morning,it wasdecidedto

canceljumpingfortheday.

“Staffworkedovernight

andSaturdaymorningbut

wehadtomakea decision

onhealthandsafety

groundsandwhatwas

bestforthehorses,”said

showjumpingorganiser

GrahamHudson.“Theriders

understoodandit is sadthat

thiswas[consultantcourse-

designer]BobEllis’last

showafterattendingsince

1978 aseithera competitor

orcourse-builder.”

“It’sguttingthey

cancelledbutforthewelfare

ofthehorsesit wasthe

rightdecision,”saidPhillip

Miller.“Thisis a lovelyevent

andfora two-dayshowthe

entertainmentis amazing

andyouare

guaranteed

goodprize

moneyand

good courses.”

TALKING

POINT

RESULTS

BrewinDolphinchallengestakes.– 1,

ChantalV (MAllen);2 &3,Warriors

Crème&FygoVonD’OuweGrint(B

Walker).at.– 1, WhisperInTheWind(M

Watson);2,Darona(PMiller);3,Mystic

Hurricane(KShore).

‘Quick,fun

torideand

a propertrier’

MILLIE ALLEN ON CHANTAL V

causedseveralproblems.

Theconsistentnine-year-

oldmareownedbyCatherine

PasmorejoinedMilliea yearago.

“She’sbeenknockingonthe

doorbutusuallygetspippedby

Paul[Barker,whopostedthe

quickesttimeonHappyBoybut

hada raildown],”saidMillie,who

enduredanarduousjourney.“It

tookussixhourstogethereaswe

gotstuckontheM62,butwhata

lovely,friendlyshowthisis —and

thatmakesa bigdifference.”

Benfinishedsecond,thirdand

fifthwithWarriorsCreme,Fygo

VonD’OuweGrint and Quob

Joshua.H&H

MennellWatsonandWhisperInTheWind

puta nearfive-secondmarginbetween

themselves and their rivals for area trial glory