Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

76 Horse&Hound1 August 2019

Pictures

by

Margaret

Shaw

SHOWJUMPING

ROYALLANCASHIRE

19-21 July

RoyalLancashire,SalesburyHall,

Lancs

ALWAYSa forcetobereckoned

withsouthoftheborder,

ScotsmanJamesSmithmadea

productivejourneytoLancashire

toclaimvictoryintheSalesbury

Hallgrandprix.

HiswinningpartnerSimply

Splendid(Simon)morethanlived

uptohisnamewhenhesetan

unbeatablestandardinthefive-

strongjump-off.

Simonsetoffina goodrhythm

andcruisedthroughtheinside

lines.A smoothlyexecutedturn

backtothefinaltwofencessealed

theirvictory.

Jamesis justa yearintohis

partnershipwiththeUstinov

10-year-oldgreygeldingand

thepairwereplacedatRoyal

HighlandandGreatYorkshire.

“We’ve had a recent good run

SimplySplendidlivesuptohisnameforJamesSmithwhile

the arena team deal valiantly with monsoonconditions

ofresultsandhewasnicelytuned

upforthis,althoughafterhaving

thefirstfencedownonthefirst

twodays,I wasrelievedtogetthat

behindustoday,”saidJames.

FullmarkstoRafSuarezand

hisarenateam.Mothernature

threweverydropofrainshe

couldontotheshowgroundover

thefirsttwodays.Goodarena

maintenanceandextendingthe

ringtwicepaiddividends.

“ThegroundwasgoodandI

don’thavetoworryabouttaking

stridesouttomakeupthetimeas

Simonis naturallyquickandhe

hasa forwardrhythm.I usedthat

tomyadvantageandit workedout

forus,”concludedJames.

Theonlyotherdoubleclearfor

secondplacewasJohnWhitaker

riding Unick Du Francport.

TheZandorZ 11-year-old

recentlyfinishedthirdina

thrillingcocko’ thenorth

championshipatGreatYorkshire.

Hefinisheda fractionoffthepace

toslotintosecondplacehere

behindSimplySplendid.

“He’sconstantlyimproving

andgettingmorecompetitive

witheveryouting,”saidJohn,

whoheadednexttotheRoyal

International(seereport,p48).

Second-drawnPaulBarker

andHappyBoyimprovedonthe

winningtime,buta railfellatthe

penultimateuprightforthird,

withlocalriderJulieAndrews

takingfourthandfifthplaces with

AyrtonIVandMadinah.

DELUGEOFRAIN

FOLLOWINGhoursofrain,

theareatrialwasjumpedin

someofthetrickiestconditions,

but fi ve combinations came

ByMARGARETSHAW

Smith is Simply Splendid

throughtocontestthejump-off,

andthreeofthoseproduced

doubleclears.

Dominatingtheawardswas

LouiseSaywell,whoclinchedfirst

andthirdplaceswithJalellahOL

andArakan.

LouiseandtheChaccoBlue

11-year-oldmareJalellah

recentlywentwellatMaubeuge

andKronenberg.

“She’scarefulandhasplenty

ofscope,butshecanbequite

sensitivesoI tendtogivehera

clearviewofthefencesrather

thanturnuptight,”saidLouise.

“Shehasjumpedwellongrass,

butshe’squitenewtotesting

conditions.I’mpleasedwiththe

wayshehandledeverythingtoday

asshecameinsidewellandwe

tooka strideouttothelast.”

OfKeeleyDurham’shome-

bredArkonine-year-oldArakan,

sheadded:“He’sbeensteppingup

wellfrom1.30mto1.50mandhe

couldhavefinishedmuchcloser

if wehadn’tstalled slightly on the

first turn.”

A forcetobereckoned

with:JamesSmithand

SimplySplendidcontinue

theirrunofformby

winning the grand prix