Bayaanaat, the ride of Izzy Taylor, was the winner of the British Eventing retrained racehorse championship at the Gatcombe Festival of British Eventing replacement, the NAF Five Star Hartpury International Horse Trials today (11 August).
Although this class only attracted nine entries this year, it was a competitive section. Izzy and the eight-year-old, who she co-owns with Lavinia Taylor and Caroline Goodwin, led from start to finish to complete on their 28.3 dressage.
“He’s very cool. He came to me as a four-year-old and he has a really lovely brain,” said Izzy of the gelding who ran a handful of times on the Flat and over hurdles with little success. “He’ll do an autumn CCI3*-L and I think he’s a proper one. He’s mega across country, he’s got the showjumping now and he’s cool on the flat.”
Oscar Fitzgerald and the sparky little grey Our Old Fella were second in the British Eventing retrained racehorse championship on 28.8, while Jack Randall, ridden by Alexander Tordoff, was third on 32.9.
Corinthian Cup result
Langson Governor and Victoria Gregg in the Corinthian Cup.
The Fairfax Saddles Corinthian Cup, a novice championship for amateur riders, was a competitive affair with Victoria Gregg and Langson Governor the eventual winners, just .1 of a penalty ahead of second placed Freya Partridge and the diminutive Candy Flight. Victoria and the son of Larduc led the dressage on 23.5 then added four faults in the showjumping before climbing back up to the top of the leaderboard with a clear cross-country round, picking up just .4 of a time-fault.
Langson Governor, a 13-year-old owned by the rider, has proven himself to be very consistent at this level, with this championship remaining the aim for the past three years over a limited number of runs.
“It comes down to finances,” explained Victoria, who was in second after the first two phases in this class last year before it was forced to abandon owing to wet weather. “I run a busy livery yard and it’s a case of being able to get the time away. He’s a big fella, so we’re very careful with him ground-wise and we only run him when the conditions are perfect. He’s good at his job, so from a financial and time point of view, we have to pinpoint what we need to do to qualify in the championships we want to aim for. We’d have loved to have been at Gatcombe, but it is what it is.
“My best friend bred him – she’s only 4’11, but he was born 14.2hh and he’s 18.1hh now. But I think because he’s only ever had me ride him since day dot, he doesn’t know how big he is. We’ll stick to competitions like this rather than progressing up the levels.”
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