WE’VE GOT THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FEELING: BLENHEIM DELIVERS ON DAY TWO

There’s something truly magical about a home championship — and Friday at Blenheim Palace proved exactly why. With golden sunshine bathing the breathtaking Oxfordshire estate, and an electric atmosphere radiating from the crowd, the second day of the Agria Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials delivered in spectacular style. The dressage phase was nothing short of sensational, setting the stage for what promises to be an unforgettable competition.

𝐌𝐜𝐄𝐰𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬

Team GB’s Tom McEwen gave home supporters every reason to cheer as he delivered a commanding dressage performance just before the lunch break, taking the lead with a polished test aboard JL Dublin

“𝘋𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘣,” said Tom, speaking of the 2021 European champion formerly ridden by Nicola Wilson. “𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥.”

His words reflected the kind of partnership that defines championship sport — experience, trust, and heart. Competing on home turf clearly meant a lot to McEwen, who beamed with pride as he spoke about the opportunity.

“𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 — 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺.”

𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲: 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭

The most anticipated showdown of the afternoon came as two eventing powerhouses entered the arena — Germany’s Michael Jung aboard FischerChipmunk FRH, and Britain’s Laura Collett with her crowd-favourite, London 52.

Jung, the master of precision, delivered the only sub-20 score of the day — an exquisite 18.3 penalties — showcasing the kind of harmony and elegance that only years of elite partnership can create.

“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,” said Michael, who already has three European titles to his name (2011, 2013, and 2015), but was making his debut at Blenheim. “𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 — 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴.”

He described FischerChipmunk FRH as an “𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦,” and their score now puts Germany at the top of the team standings on 74.4 penalties.

Not far behind, Laura Collett delivered a beautiful test with London 52, scoring 20.6 to the delight of a roaring home crowd.

“𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘧 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.”

Thanks to her performance, Team GB sits just 1.4 penalties behind Germany, with 75.8 heading into the cross-country phase.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯,” said Jerome Robine, who finished third in last year’s CCI4*-L at Blenheim. “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴-𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵.”

𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲

Further down the leaderboard, Austria’s Lea Siegl produced the test of her career aboard the 15-year-old Van Helsing P, scoring an impressive 26.9 to sit in fourth. The 27-year-old, who made headlines as the youngest rider at the Tokyo Olympics, has a strong emotional connection to Blenheim.

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵,” said a delighted Lea. “𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 2005 — 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 — 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

Lea’s father, Harald Siegl, competed at Blenheim during the 2005 European Championships, making this a particularly poignant moment for the Austrian rider.

Also impressing was Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, who currently holds fifth place on her home-bred mare Hooney d’Arville, and Bubby Upton, making her senior team debut with It’s Cooley Time.

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞

Germany leads with 74.4 penalties

Great Britain is hot on their heels with 75.8

France holds third place with 90.7

Switzerland is fourth on 95.2, just 0.1 ahead of Belgium (95.3)

Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Italy round out the top nine

With just over a single penalty point separating the top two teams, and multiple nations poised to climb the leaderboard, tomorrow’s cross-country phase is set to be a true game-changer.

𝐆𝐅𝐒 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝟖 & 𝟗-𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐂𝐈𝟒*-𝐒 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩

Elsewhere on the grounds, excitement is building in the GFS Saddles 8 & 9-Year-Old CCI4*-S, where New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington now tops the leaderboard with Quantas R on a dressage mark of 22.4.

Hot on her heels are Britain’s Gemma Stevens (Cooley Park Muze) and Sarah Bullimore (Corimiro), both delivering sub-30 scores in a tightly packed top 13 — all within striking distance as they head into the jumping phases.

𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲

The stage is now perfectly set for a thrilling Saturday at Blenheim Palace. The cross-country begins at 11:00 AM, with Switzerland’s Nadja Minder and Toblerone the first to tackle what’s expected to be a bold and challenging course.

With tension at fever pitch and less than two penalties separating Germany and Great Britain, everything is to play for in this prestigious championship. Riders, horses, and fans alike are ready for a day of adrenaline, heart, and horsemanship at its very best.

Let the games truly begin.