Three horses have been withdrawn ahead of the final phase in the CCI3* at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.
US riders Elizabeth Halliday-Sharp (Carpe Diem IV) and Tiana Coudray (Under The Clocks) did not present their horses at the final horse inspection this morning.
Elizabeth and the 10-year-old gelding were lying in 20th after cross-country following a clear jumping round with 13.2 time penalties.
Meanwhile, Tiana was lying in 32nd after picking up 20 jumping penalties at the influential fence 19 and 3.6 time faults.
Three horses were sent to the holding box by the ground jury, which consists of France’s Eric Leiby, Britain’s Jane Tolley and the Netherlands’ Ciska van Meggelen.
These were Zoe Wilkinson’s ride Craignure (54th), Soladoun ridden by Ireland’s Elizabeth Power (39th) and Flora Harris’s contender Bayano (15th).
Craignure was withdrawn from the holding box, while Soladoun and Bayano both passed on reinspection.
Japan’s Ryuzo Kitajima was asked by the ground jury to trot-up his ride Just Chocolate again and was accepted.
All of the top-10 combinations passed without issue.
The overnight leader Chipmunk FRH, ridden by Germany’s Julia Krajewski, looked fresh and enjoyed a tickle on the nose from his rider before trotting up for the ground jury.
Hannah Sue Burnett’s ride R F Demeter, who is in sixth ahead of the showjumping, appeared to take a cheeky swipe at the flowers as he passed.
The showjumping starts at 9.30am this morning with 69 combinations coming forwards to this final phase. The top-40 will jump in this afternoon’s session , which begins at 2.45pm.
Don’t miss this week’s issue of Horse & Hound – out Thursday, 21 September – for a full report from the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials
