Piggy March was a very worthy winner of Belsay’s inaugural CCI4*-S, taking the RBC Brewin Dolphin-sponsored class on Jayne McGivern’s grey stallion Halo.
Piggy, a former winner of both Badminton and Burghley, was second after dressage with a score of 22.1, just behind 2025 Badminton heroine Ros Canter, who scored 21.6 on Izilot DHI. Both showjumped clear, but Piggy was faster across country for just 2.8 time-penalties. Ros’s 8.8 time-faults dropped her to sixth in the 96-strong class.
“He’s such a cool little horse,” said Piggy. “This is an amazing event and definitely one to come back to. Fair play to [cross-country course-designer] Adrian Ditcham; he’s given us a track we’ve all had to think about – it’s opened our eyes and we’ve had to ride at it.
“Halo is beautiful to ride. He was quite keen across country today – I gave him a kick at the start and he was like, ‘OK, we’re off!’ He’s a super little character. He’s brave and he’s hungry and he flies around.”
Piggy has entered the 12-year-old Holsteiner for the CCI5* at Luhmühlen and also for the prestigious CCI4*-S at Aachen, and will make a decision when she sees how Halo has come out of his adventure in Northumberland. Her Belsay victory will have strengthened her chances of being part of Britain’s team for the European Championships at Blenheim Palace this September.
“I’d love to go to the Europeans. I think he was put on this planet for championships – he’s exactly that type of horse – and I’d love to give it a go,” she said.
Izzy Taylor rose up the order with an excellent speedy cross-country round to take second place on Jane Timmis’s SBH Big Wall.
Izzy said: “He’s been super. He did a lovely dressage test; a few little fresh mistakes, but that’s fine – hopefully he’s going to Bramham for the CCI4*-L, so he’s very fit. He did a lovely clear round showjumping and then a very cool round cross-country.”
Izzy echoed other riders when she congratulated the Belsay team, led by organiser Laura de Wesselow, on a very successful first event at four-star level.
“It’s a beautiful venue,” she said. “The work that has gone into it is unbelievable. As riders, I don’t think we could be more grateful for what they have managed to produce. The going is second to none – you really can’t fault it – and from my perspective, as a preparation run for events such as Bramham and Luhmühlen, it has been perfect.”
Sarah Bullimore celebrated her birthday by finishing third on her homebred Corimiro, while Bubby Upton was fourth on It’s Cooley Time. As well as sixth place on Izilot DHI, 2024 Burghley winner Ros Canter filled fifth with MHS Seventeen.
New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington won the Chaser Communications Advanced class on Quantas R, owned by The High Flyers.
The nine-year-old grey, by Qualito, led after dressage with a score of 29.6, showjumped clear, and even 18.4 time-faults weren’t enough to knock the pair off the top spot. They finished 1.3 penalties ahead of Emily King and Jackpot.
Samantha said: “We’re here preparing for the four-star at Royal Jump in France in a couple of weeks’ time. I was really pleased with his dressage; he was very rideable and easy and stayed with me. He did a lovely showjumping around quite a tough, technical track with a tight time, and I went out on the cross-country just wanting to put the tools in place for our next outing and didn’t particularly worry about the clock.
“He’s pretty phenomenally talented and has been from the get-go. We really rate him as a championship horse for the future.”
This was the first of two events at Belsay in May. When Chatsworth decided not to run in 2025, Laura de Wesselow stepped in to run “Chatsworth at Belsay” and a first four-star for the popular Northumberland venue, and it will be followed by Belsay’s well-established annual fixture from 28 May-1 June, featuring international classes from CCI1*-CCI3* and the Pony and Junior National Championships.
Laura said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and actually incredibly proud. I think it’s something about being up north – we always worry about the fact that we aren’t as good as the southerns, but we smashed it! It was a challenge. We only found out in late November that we’d got it, and it’s only a ‘one-year wonder’ as far as we know at the moment, but I hope it’s not. We’ve thrown everything at it, everyone’s loved it, I think Adrian Ditcham has been a genius with the track, Rob McSkimming has worked really hard building the course – everyone has worked so hard to pull off today, and all we’ve had is great feedback, so I’m thrilled for everyone who has worked so hard.”
Tickets for Belsay (2) and a full programme of events are on the event website, www.belsayhorsetrials.com
All the cross-country at Belsay (2) will be shown on Horse & Country TV’s livestreaming platform H&C+.
IMAGES © ATHALENS
