@DodsonHorrell British Novice Champion @Oliver_Townend #GAT15 pic.twitter.com/RHUQCrYQxX
— Dodson & Horrell Ltd (@DodsonHorrell) August 8, 2015
Oliver Townend decided to stroll home with two winners at this weekend’s Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park. He will take home the spoils in both the Novice and the Intermediate Championship divisions aboard Sonic de Sermentol and Note Worthy, respectively. Just for kicks, Ollie also took home second in the Novice division with Ridire Dorcha.
Sonic de Sermentol, a 9-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding owned by Stephanie Andrimont, has been a consistent performer for Oliver this season, also finishing fifth in the CCI* at Tattersalls earlier this year. He finished on his dressage score of 27.7 to secure the win over Ridire Dorcha, a 7-year-old gelding owned by Karyn Shuter.
“I hoped we’d have a winner here,” Oliver said in an interview with Rupert Bell. “It’s not so much that you have the two winners on the day, but you look at the amount of horses and the quality of horse and the quality of riders that you’re against at this place. That’s what makes it special, to think that there was however many in each class and yet you’ve come out on top — that’s what, to me, makes it feel very, very satisfying.”
In the Intermediate Championship, Oliver took home the win with Note Worthy, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Andrew Cawthray. This is a seasoned campaigner for Oliver and has also done a stint campaigning in Australia in years past. This pair added just 1.2 time penalties to their dressage score for a final of 24.5, winning handily over second placed Vittoria Panizzon and Chequers Play the Game.
In the Open CIC3* division, it’s Andrew Hoy and Rutherglen who have taken over the lead after dressage on a score of 31.5. Earlier leaders William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero set an early standard with their 35.2 (an error during their test cost them some precious points), but they’ve since been moved to fifth place after the remaining riders.
Oliver Townend has a very strong shot to take home a third win at Gatcombe this weekend, currently lying second and third with Mr Hiho (32.6) and Armada (33.5). Nicola Wilson is in fourth with Beltane Queen on a dressage score of 34.3.
The Open combinations will tackle show jumping in the morning followed by cross country in the afternoon, which will be live streamed beginning at 2 pm local / 9 am EST. We’ll be posting the live stream again first thing in the morning for you to follow along.
In the meantime, check out the CIC3* course preview below thanks to our friends at CrossCountryApp:
British Festival of Eventing: [Website] [Times] [Schedule] [Live Scores] [Live Stream]
