Riders with the Paris Olympics in mind headed up the CCI4*-S on the first day of Defender Bramham Horse Trials dressage, with Ryuzo Kitajima heading the pack.
The Japanese pilot coaxed a relaxed test from Be My Daisy, a new ride for him this year to take a clear lead on a score of 24.7. The 13-year-old mare was imported from Australia and previously ridden by Olympians Shane Rose and Stuart Tinney, as well as Stuart’s daughter Gemma.
After taking the lead in the Bramham Horse Trials dressage, Ryuzo Kitajima admitted 13-year-old Be My Daisy can be difficult.
“She is a mare, which can be good or bad, but today she was a princess,” said Ryuzo, who is based with and trains with Angela Tucker and has four horses in the running for Paris 2024.
The pair have already packed four international runs into their short partnership, with Ryuzo taking Be My Daisy to Mata do Duque in Portugal in February to kick start their season as they did not have much time to acquire their Olympic qualifications and build a partnership.
Joseph Murphy scored a nine from each judge on his way to taking second overnight in the Defender CCI4*-S.
The Irish rider laid down the gauntlet for Olympic selection as he piloted his own Calmaro to a score of 27.3, saying: “He’s sort of been lining up to do something like that for a little while, but I struggle a little bit with his spookiness and sometimes with the atmosphere. But I suppose the good thing about these horses is the more you bring them out, the more you’re learning about them.”
Tracie Robinson, Irish eventing team dressage coach, has been key to Joseph learning to produce the 13-year-old grey at his best.
“It’s not overworking him because his body still needs to be fresh and he’s not that strong,” said Joseph, who now brings Calmaro out plenty of times before his test so he “takes in the sights and absorbs everything that’s going on”, but in a relaxed way.
“It’s also nailing him a little bit down with his movements, so that he learns to respect me in the ring – it has to be a two-way thing and I think in the past sometimes he disrespected me a little bit and used the spookiness against me but now I’m getting there with him.”
This is Joseph’s major trial before Paris 2024 selection and he said high performance Dag Albert was keen for him to come to Bramham.
“He’s the sort of horse I don’t mind where I go with him – he’s very versatile and really a horse for the big occasion, that seems to be when he performs at his best,” said Joseph, who took Calmaro to Millstreet last week so he could work with Tracie on his dressage while he competed other rides, but never intended to run across country there.
Irish impress in Bramham Horse Trials dressage
Irish riders hold two of the top three places in this class as Austin O’Connor sits third on 27.8 with Lesley Rose’s 11-year-old Isazsa.
“She’s a beautiful mare but complicated, sharp and highly strung – you know that ability is there and now the penny’s dropping, she’s growing up and developing,” she said. “Tracie has been a massive part of everything, so it’s nice to get a result for Tracie more than anything else because you don’t see all the blood, sweat and tears that goes on at home.”
Austin has his Maryland 5 Star winner Colorado Blue in this class tomorrow and would not be drawn at this stage on whether Isazsa could be a potential back-up horse for him for Paris.
“I wouldn’t be talking about Paris until Monday,” he said.
Young British rider Saffron Cresswell, 23, finished the day in fourth when she raked in a mark of 28.6 with the syndicate-owned Funny Guy, who is 10 years old.
“I’ve had him since he was a four-year-old and it’s nice to have produced him to now – dressage was not his strong point as a young horse,” she said. “He’s 80% thoroughbred and built to gallop, not to sit in the dressage, but he’s such a trainable horse he makes my job easy.”
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