William Fox-Pitt maintained his place at the top of the leaderboard at the Fidelity Blenheim International Horse Trials — and at the same time etched his name in the history books with the 50th three-day event win of his career.
William jumped a final day clear with Catherine Witt’s Seacookie to finish on his dressage score of 39.
“Seacookie’s been a very consistent horse, but he was obviously telling me at Burghley that he wanted to come here,” said William, referring to the gelding’s under par performance the previous weekend.
“We looked over him thoroughly after the cross-country [at Burghley] to check there was nothing amiss, then I took him cross-country schooling and he felt great, so I had no doubts about re-routing here.”
The top three remained unchanged after showjumping with runner-up Mark Todd using hands and heels to coax a clear round out of Suzie Belsham’s Conair.
“I didn’t really know what to expect as I’d only competed him twice, but he’d been going well at home and I was hopeful of a good place,” said Mark, who deputised for an injured Rodney Powell.
Tina Cook rounded off the top three with her own and Jim Chromiak’s lovely homebred De Novo News, who is out of Tina’s 1998 British Intermediate Champion Douce De Longvaut.
Andrew Nicholson cruised to an easy victory in the eight- and nine-year-old CIC*** with Deborah Sellars’ much-admired Quimbo.
William Fox-Pitt featured again in this class, climbing two places into second with a quick cross-country round aboard Catherine Witts’ Bay My Hero, while Izzy Taylor made a similar leap from sixth to third with KBIS Starchaser.
See Thursday’s Horse & Hound magazine for a full report on all the action from Blenheim Horse Trials
CCI*** final results
1. William Fox-Pitt on Seacookie (GB) 39
2. Mark Todd on Conair (NZ) 42
3. Tina Cook on De Novo News (GB) 42.8
4. Kitty King on Zidante (GB) 45.6
5. Paul Tapner on Kilronan (NZ) 45.8
6. Francis Whittington on Easy Target (GB) 47.2
7. Cedric Lyard on Cadeau Du Roi (FRA) 47.6
8. Oliver Townend on Outside Chance (GB) 49.4
9. Tim Boland on GV Billy Elliot (AUS) 52
10. Polly Jackson on Highland Charm (GB) 55.8
CIC*** 8/9yo final results
1. Andrew Nicholson on Quimbo (NZ) 40.7
2. William Fox-Pitt on Bay My Hero (GB) 44.8
3. Izzy Taylor on KBIS Starchaser (GB) 46
4. Bettina Hoy on Designer 10 (GER) 46.8
5. Arnaud Boiteau on Quoriano (FRA) 48.2
6. Gemma Tattersall on Chico Bella P (GB) 49
7. Piggy French on West Side (GB) 49.7
8. Piggy French on Kiltealy Brief (GB) 50.7
9. Veronique Real on Pouchkine D’Arcy (FRA) 52
10. Caroline Powell on Onwards And Upwards (NZ) 52.2
