Ros Canter has maintained her lead in the Land Rover CCI4*-S after her Bramham Horse Trials showjumping round aboard Izilot DHI. They added just 0.4 of a time-fault to their 23.5 dressage, which means they go forward to the cross-country phase later this afternoon 2.7 penalties ahead of second-placed Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent.
“He’s an excellent jumper and I always feel a bit of pressure because I don’t want to let him down, but also he’s never really had big atmospheres before, so I was really happy with how he stayed with me and concentrated,” Ros said after her round with the nine-year-old she co-owns with Alex Moody. “I thought the track was quite clever because it didn’t walk overly complicated, but the distances were quite short and the time was tight and this horse is still learning to bounce, so there’s more to come from him still.”
Oliver Townend and the eight-year-old Cooley Rosalent jumped a foot-perfect round, being just one of 12 combinations to jump clear inside the time from 74 starters, and they are sitting in second after the showjumping.
“The fences aren’t a problem for my horse, she’s just very babyish with the flags and the crowd,” explained Oliver of the mare owned by Paul Ridgeon. “If she’s not as good as what we’ve had in the past, she’s as good as what we’ve got, that’s for sure. The track was strong and square – Di Boddy has done a fantastic job designing these tracks, as always.”
Piggy March and Brookfield Quality were another pair to finish just over the time allowed in the Bramham Horse Trials showjumping, picking up 0.4 of a penalty. They are now in third and carry a score of 27.3 into the cross-country.
“He’s a beautiful jumper, but for him the distances were holding enough in there so that suits some better than others, but it’s just brilliant to be here,” Piggy said after her round on the 13-year-old owned by John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn. “He can often be just over the time allowed as he takes half a second longer in the air and he’s got a big stride, so it’s not easy to make him shorten and then quicken up again.”
Tom McEwen and the talented eight-year-old MHS Brown Jack also added 0.4 of a showjumping time-fault to their 27.4 dressage to sit in fourth place going into the cross-country.
“He jumped super – he’s always been better around a bigger course – we’ve always known that – but he tried really hard because he’s only eight and a big baby so I thought he might find it quite tiring to get everything together, but he tried his heart out,” Tom said after his Bramham Horse Trials showjumping round on the horse owned by Fred and Penny Barker.
“I accidentally added a stride after the triple bar but actually it worked out really well and he couldn’t have tried any harder for me. I thought it was a good track; very square and the time is tight, which makes it more enjoyable for me.”
Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne Van Bareelhof, who had been in second after the dressage, had the first fence down in the showjumping and also added 2.8 time-faults to drop down to 13th going into the final cross-country phase.
The CCI4*-S cross-country is due to get underway at 2.35pm this afternoon.
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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Ready to face Ian Stark’s Bramham CCI4*-L course? Take a virtual walk round the track…
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