Tom McEwen and MHS Brown Jack have gone into the lead on day one of the Bramham Horse Trials dressage in the Land Rover-sponsored CCI4*-S. They scored 27.4 to go 1.2 penalties ahead of Jesse Campbell on Gambesie and Alex Hua Tian on Don Geniro, who are in joint second.
“Jack was brilliant – it was his first four-star test,” said Tom after his performance with the eight-year-old, who is owned by Fred and Penny Barker. “He’s actually very good on the flat, but we didn’t do a very good advanced test at an event a little while ago [the pair scored 33.8 at Burnham Market in April] and he’s been getting his knickers in a twist a bit while learning flying changes, but he got them all today and he’s brilliant.
“The lateral work was excellent and there is a lot more to come, which is even more exciting.”
Tom described MHS Brown Jack, who is by OBOS Quality, as a “lovely horse”.
“He’s really polite and Penny used to hack him out a little bit. He’s very good at adapting to situations and he is loving being a big show again, which is always great news for finding one for the top. He’s worked really hard today, so I’m very, very happy with him.”
Dani Evans and Hollywood Dancer, who is a 10-year-old owned by Ann Butler, scored 29.7 to go into provisional fourth.
“She’s always level-headed and easy to ride in the arena, but that was the first time I’ve felt her hold her breath in the atmosphere,” Dani said after her Bramham Horse Trials dressage test. “But she stayed with me and listened – she makes my job very easy.”
Keep up-to-date with all the action from Bramham via horseandhound.co.uk and read the full magazine report in the 16 June issue of Horse & Hound
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