Yasmin Ingham put in a super test to top the leaderboard at end of the first day of action in the European Eventing Championships dressage.
World champions Yasmin and Banzai Du Loir, owned by The Sue Davies Fund, scored 23.5. The leggy, shiny, relaxed chestnut earned a cluster of eights across the board, as well as a nine from Katrin Eichinger-Kniely at E for the rein-back. Katrin used the range of marks, as Banzai’s lowest scores were 6.5s in the walk, also from her.
“He was amazing. It was very atmospheric and he just didn’t put a foot wrong. I thought he did everything I asked him to do, so I’m delighted, so pleased,” said Yasmin, who said she watched her World Championship test before her ride today and “tried to channel the same sort of feeling that I had before then”.
She said Banzai has not been affected by temperatures hitting the high 20s today in Haras Du Pin and she didn’t change her preparation because of the weather: “We’ve kept everything fairly similar for the past few events – now we seem to have got a nice system that works for him. Obviously he’s not a horse that would particularly struggle in the heat – he seems not to have a bottom to him in terms of energy.”
Asked about highlights of her test, Yasmin said: “His trot work was beautiful. He was just so floaty and he’s very accurate to the marker so that was great. In the extended trot at the end, he’s always got such nice reach his shoulder and carries himself so well and with so much cadence.”
Yasmin improved on her mark at Aachen in June by 0.1 of a penalty.
“I’ve been trying to get better at that four-star test, so it’s slightly frustrating, but I couldn’t fault him. He was brilliant. So I’m delighted with this one,” she said.
German individual Jérôme Robiné impressed as the final rider of the day, scoring 26 with Dorothea von Zedtwitz’s Black Ice to move into second on his senior championship debut.
“It’s pretty amazing. A big team around us worked for this moment, so I’m more than happy that it worked the way we wanted it,” said Jérôme.
“He felt better and better from day to day here, so I thought it was going to be good when I was in the warm up. My dressage coach just said me to enjoy it – there was a lot of pressure before and now enjoy it. I think that was a good last sentence for me.
“He’s not perfect as a dressage horse, because he’s an eventer – he’s an Irish sport horse [by Vechta out of a Touchdown mare]. We have worked on trying to get him more in front of us, even more up [in his outline]. I think that’s something he really learned and gained the strength to do over the years.”
Jérôme added that his only mistake today was doing his second flying change a stride too early.
Swedish individual Lina Forsberg (Kaizen) has moved into sixth place on 29.5, while France’s Karim Laghouag was the only other rider to make an impression on the top end of the European Eventing Championships dressage standings in the final session today. He slotted into seventh individually on 31.5. Karim amused the spectators after his test on Triton Fontaine by popping the peak off his crash helmet in a salute to the home crowd as he left the arena.
On the team leaderboard, the combined scores of Yasmin and Kitty King (third on 27.2) mean that Britain holds the top spot overnight. Germany sits second (led by Christoph Wahler in individual fourth) and the Netherland third (spearheaded by Andrew Heffernan in fifth).
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