World number one Ros Canter and Izilot DHI added the Blenheim Horse Trials trophy to their impressive collection of silverware with their flawless showjumping round sealing their place at the top of the CCI4*-L results.
Ros and the 10-year-old gelding cantered into the showjumping on their two-phase score of 22. They produced a textbook round to pile pressure on world champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir, who led from the first phase.
Yasmin and Banzai, winners of this class in 2021, could afford a smattering of time-faults, but no rails. The 12-year-old gelding, owned by Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies Fund, glided across the coloured poles with his usual ease and flair.
But perhaps the only true certainty in horse sport is that it can be relied upon to be unpredictable. The final fence fell for Yasmin, and the 2023 Blenheim crown landed on Ros’s head.
“More than the result, I’m just so proud of how he’s dealt with the whole week and how he jumped today, particularly with how sprightly he felt,” said Ros.
“He was quite peaky and spooky, and that’s his personality. The last couple of times he has done a three-day, he’s been a bit flatter ahead of the showjumping. Today, he felt strong and well, so it’s really exciting that he’s getting stronger in his body because he is still a weak horse and there’s still lots more development to come.”
Izilot DHI, who Ros owns with Alex Moody, is a supremely talented, somewhat mercurial character. That complexity is both his strength and at times his Achilles heel.
This is their eighth international win and his fourth four-star victory, having won three CCI4*-S classes – including his direct preparation run at Blair Castle. He is also not immune to a 20 penalties for a spooky moment, Bramham this year being a prime example.
“This time of year is much easier for me, once he’s run a bit, the sun has been on his back, he’s been out in the field all the time,” said Ros, who took the horse for a gentle cross-country school on Wednesday “not to train him, but to relax him” on the way to Blenheim.
“I think the spring will be difficult again next year. He could easily go to his first open intermediate and duck out, because there’s a duck or something in the wrong place. That’s ‘Isaac’ for you and I’m not sure that’s going to change anytime soon.
“But I’m starting to get the hang of how to build him up for an event where I really need his brain in the right place.”
Yasmin came over to congratulate Ros with a hug and a smile. And while there’s no questioning her competitive spirit, she was philosophical about that pesky final pole.
“We’ve had a good week all in all, so I can’t really complain,” said Yasmin. “He’s super careful and agile, so I’ll probably be analysing that video all winter to find out what went wrong! But that’s horses isn’t it? Some days you come out on top and some days you don’t.”
Yasmin had been open that her main aim for the week was to finish the season on a positive note. In doing so, she has also secured a critical minimum eligibility requirement to be considered for Paris 2024.
“I’m very pleased all in all. We’ve achieved everything I wanted to achieve this weekend and now he can go out in the field and have a nice holiday and get ready for next year,” she said.
Harry Meade’s showjumping clear with Annaghmore Valoner was rewarded with a further climb up the leaderboard to finish third on their dressage score of 30.6. This gutsy mare, owned by Dinah Posford, Jules Carter and Stephen Posford, was 16th after dressage and rocketed to fifth ahead of the final phase with her fault-free cross-country round.
“She’s got so much talent,” said Harry, who will now aim to consolidate her CCI4*-L form at Bramham 2024.
“She’s a little bit of a hothead; she holds her breath, but she’s got all three phases, which very few horses do. She’s a beautiful mover, she’s got loads of blood and gallop, and she just oozes class.”
Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality ended the week with a flawless showjumping clear to finish fourth (32.2). Tom Rowland scored one of the biggest results of his career to take fifth with Dreamliner, adding just 0.4 of a showjumping time-penalty to their dressage score to finish fifth on 32.5.
Piggy March and the spring-heeled little “Pegasus” Halo lowered the front rail of the butterfly oxer at fence seven, which dropped them from third to sixth.
“He’s been amazing; the dressage was below his standards, because he made a couple of expensive mistakes, which he hasn’t done before. Today was my error, which irritates me,” said Piggy, who ended the week on a score of 33.5 with the 10-year-old stallion.
The next two places in the Blenheim Horse Trials showjumping results were filled by two big leaderboard climbers. Felicity Collins and RSH Contend Or, who were fourth here in 2022, rose from 31st to seventh on 33.6; while Australia’s Sammi Birch and Findus PFB rocketed from 48th after dressage to finish eighth (34.4).
China’s Alex Hua Tian was a little frustrated to pick up four faults with ninth-placed Chiko (34.4). The pair were fourth after cross-country and a clear would have resulted in a podium spot.
“He’s jumped so well all year, and he jumped so well in there, but every horse can have a fence somewhere if that’s the way the dice roll for you on the day,” said Alex.
Italy’s Giovanni Ugolotti completed the top 10 with Florencina R, jumping clear on the final day to end on 34.8.
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