Oliver Townend shot to the top of the leaderboard in the Holme Dodsworth Metals CCI4*-S during the second of day of dressage with a brilliant score of 19.8 aboard his Kentucky CCI5* winner, Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s 10-year-old mare Cooley Rosalent.
Shropshire-based Oliver said: “I’m very happy with Cooley Rosalent’s performance today; she’s just getting better and better and is on an upwards trajectory. This is her first event in an atmosphere since winning Kentucky, and she coped brilliantly with the breeze and the flags.
“She’s ready now to deliver a test like this and, six weeks away from Burghley, it’s very encouraging.
“It was great to have such a good build-up yesterday at Burgham, winning the Open Intermediate on Caunton Manor Stud and Charlotte Cole’s Crazy Du Loir and an intermediate class on a new ride, Rachael Slinger and Suzanne Harley-Davies’s Hermes Image. I’ve brought 12 horses up to Burgham this week because we know we will get good courses, good ground and a really well-run and friendly event.”
Oliver has three marks in hand going into showjumping over second-placed Tom Jackson on his 2023 European Championships ride, Patricia Davenport’s Capels Hollow Drift (22.9), with Scottish rider Wills Oakden in third with a score of 26.9 aboard Geoff and Elspeth Adam’s Keep It Cooley.
Izzy Taylor – a former winner of the Burgham CCI4*-S – claimed section B of the Hambro Sport Horses CCI3*-S on Caroline Wilson’s eight-year-old mare Hathaway Royale. The pair led from start to finish, completing on their dressage score of 241.
“She’s relatively young still, I’ve had her since she was a four-year-old, which makes it quite special. She’s very cute and very careful, a good jumper and a nice mover. She’s a very nice little horse who had her ears pricked all the way round and loves the job.
“The ground was very good and the track was great. It always rides very positively here, which is nice, and the horses are rewarded for it and come off the tracks with their ears pricked and feeling happy.
Izzy was also fifth on Johnny Hornby’s seven-year-old mare Barrington Alice, and ninth on Alex Phillips’ Retouchable.
Holly Clarke, 20, scored her best international result to date in second on her mother Alex’s 10-year-old gelding Nico. Their finishing score of 25.6 was 1.2 penalties in front of German rider Felix Etzel, third with TSF Polartanz.
American rider Jenny Caras won section A of the Hambro Sport Horses CCI3*-S with Jerry Hollis’s Sommersby on her dressage score of 28.2.
Jenny is based in the UK for the 2024 season. She explained: “Originally I got sent over on the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) European Development Tour to do Chatsworth and Millstreet. Chatsworth was cancelled, but Millstreet went well. Now, thanks to the Wilton Fair Grant, I am able to stay for the season.
“I’ve produced Sommersby to the top level myself – he’s got a super owner behind him, Jerry Hollis, so we’ve been partners in him all the way. This was his first run back after the Nations Cup CCI4*-S at Millstreet and he was super, so he will head to Hartpury and we’ll make plans for an autumn four-star from there. He’s the sweetest horse in the world, he’s easy to ride and a pleasure to work with every day. We’re good friends.”
She added: “The ground here felt amazing – being from America, at this time of year we are used to really hard ground, so it is a privilege to be here and compete on going and ground like this.”
Rosie Ringer is in the lead after the first day of dressage in the NIS Group Services Ltd CCI2*-S on Daisy Proctor’s Quarryman with a score of 24.2
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