Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

68 Horse&Hound1 August 2019

Pictures by Trevor Holt/Kingfi sher Media Services

EVENTING

BURGHAM

26-28 July

ditedbyPippaRoome

[email protected]

@pipparoome

Burgham,Northumbs

KITTYKINGandVendrediBiats

thwarted 2018 winnersOliver

TownendandBallaghmorClass’

chanceofback-to-backwinsinthe

NewtonHallCCI4*-Sbywinning

theevent’spremierclass.

Oliverhadledthesection

afterdressagewithKarynShuter,

AngelaHislopandValRyan’s

distinctivegrey,buta rolled

showjumpingpoleand3.6cross-

countrytime-penaltiesdropped

themtoeventualsecond.Two

fencesdowninaninfluential

showjumpingphase,inwhich

only16%ofstartersjumped

clear,alsorelegatedIzzyTaylor

andSpringpowerfromsecond

overnighttoeventualthird.

However,VendrediBiats

is a goodjumperandhasonly

loweredonepoleallseason.This,

combined with a near-perfect

KittyKingpraisesherhorse’sperformance,whilePiggy

French notches up her ninth internationalwinoftheyear

cross-countryroundjust 11

secondsovertheelusiveoptimum

time,securedhimandKittythe

winandwillhavedonetheir

chancesofselectionforthisyear’s

EuropeanChampionshipsno

harmeither.

“Hewasperfect,”saidKittyof

DianaBown,SallyLloyd-Baker,

SallyEyreandSamanthaWilson’s

2019 BramhamCCI4*-Lwinner.

“Wejusthadonedodgy

momentatthecombinationat

fencefour,butthatwasentirely

myfault.WhenI walkedthe

course,I decidedsevenstrides

betweenthea andb elements

wouldsuithimbest,butwhen

I rodeit I doubtedmyselfand

wentforsixtotryandgetthetime

andhehadtohelpmeout.This

will hopefully teach me to trust

myselfandmyplansmore.”

Althoughthesomewhattacky

groundintheshowjumpingarena

contributed to clear rounds being

BySUEPOLLEY

King takes

Townend’s crown

ata premiuminallsections,

thegoingonthecross-country

courseswasnighonperfectand

a majorcontributingfactorto

theevent’sincreasingpopularity,

accordingtoOliver.

“Theteamheredoa jobthat

is secondtonone,”hesaid.“The

groundis consistentandsafeand

that’swhyI andsomanyothers

comeallthewayuphere.I didn’t

pressthe‘go’buttononanyof

minetoday,buttheydefinitelyall

hada goodrun.”

Allbeingwell,Ballaghmor

ClasswillcontestBurghleyagain

inSeptember,withfourth-placed

TregilderheadingtoMillstreet for

his first CCI4*-L.

Harry Meade takes top spot in the CCI2*-S with Merrywell Tradition

KittyKingandthe

‘perfect’VendrediBiats

headtheCCI4*-S,despite

a ‘dodgymoment’during

the cross-country