Photo by John Lechner
Several North Americans are in attendance at the 2013 Blenheim Horse Trials this weekend, September 11-15. Samantha Clark is on the scene to bring us the latest updates and all the news from England. Stay tuned to EN and good luck to all competitors!
[Blenheim Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores] [FB Updates via USEF High Performance]
Tuesday 9/10/13
A Preview of North American Riders at Blenheim – Kate Samuels previews the American and Canadian entries at Blenheim this year. Included: Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen; Phillip Dutton and Ben; Megan O’Donoghue and Pirate; Julian Stiller and Sinatra BK and Pandora X; Cindy Rawson and Mocharabuiee; and Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti.
The North Americans have arrived at Blenheim – Pirate (with Max Corcoran) and Team Rebecca’s Ben (with Kaitlin Spurlock) flew to Lieges and arrived in England on Saturday. Megan and Phillip Dutton flew out a day later, and David O’Connor joined them straight from Burghley on Sunday night to give them a school Monday and Tuesday before they left for Woodstock, Oxfordshire. By all accounts they are both going extremely well, and they certainly look it.
Wednesday, 9/11/13
Your Blenheim CCI*** XC Course Photos – See the Blenheim cross-country course jump-by-jump. The fences are absolutely beautiful!
Blenheim CCI*** First Horse Inspection – Raincoats were de rigeur at the First Horse Inspection at the Fidelity Blenheim International Horse Trials CCI*** Wednesday afternoon, as a persistent drizzle set in around lunchtime. It didn’t deter the North American contingent however, who all passed although Cindy Rawson had a nervous moment when Mocharabuiee was sent to the holding box, and then passed upon re-inspection.
Thursday, 9/12/13
Team Rebecca’s Ben and Phillip Dutton bring their best to Blenheim – Phillip Dutton’s vast experience showed this morning when he got the absolute best out of Team Rebecca’s stunning mover Ben to score 48.3, good enough for third place at the morning coffee break, behind Kai Ruder on Gryffindor and Rodney Powell on Happy Go Lucky who are currently tied for the lead on 46.9. (Catch up on live scores here)
Jessie Phoenix and Pavarotti off to a great start at Blenheim – Jessie Phoenix rode Don Good’s Pavarotti perfectly to keep him just under the boil, and produce a test good enough to score 48.1 which currently has her sitting in 4th place. Thanks to Rupert Bell of Lloyd-Bell productions for talking to her immediately after, you can listen to the interview here, but Jessie said that she was rightfully thrilled with Rotti.
Clark and Glen Lead Blenheim CCI3* Day 1 Dressage – Clark Montgomery laid down the gauntlet Thursday at Blenheim Palace with a beautiful, accurate and flowing test to take the Day 1 dressage lead. Ever the perfectionist, he said afterwards that there were a couple of things that could have been improved, but that he hopes it will be good enough to keep the lead throughout tomorrow, and if not he hopes it will be close enough. We sat down shortly after his test to chat.
Friday, 9/13/13
Friday morning dressage scores shake up the Blenheim CCI3* leaderboard – Congratulations to Megan O’Donoghue who rode an accurate test on Pirate with no mistakes for a respectable score of 52.3. Megan kept him going forwards, used her corners really well and didn’t give any marks away, and should be very proud of their performance.
2013 CCI3* Blenheim CCI3* Results — Sarah Bullimore and Lilly Corinne had a fabulous test to break into the thirties to lead on a score of 38.9. Aoeife Clark of Ireland moved into second with Fenyas Elegance, scoring 40.0. Less than a rail out of first, yesterday’s leader Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen sit in third on 42.7.
Catching Up with Meghan O’Donoghue — Meghan O’Donogue has completed her dressage test at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI***on Pirate, the OTTB she’s brought on herself since a youngster, and now looks forward to the cross country on Saturday.
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Saturday, 9/14/13
Quick Blenheim CCI3* Update — See how Phillip Dutton and Ben, Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen, and Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti fared on cross-country day.
Blenheim CCI3* XC Continued — A full recap of how the North Americans performed on cross-country day.
Sunday, 9/15/13
North American horses pass Blenheim Final Horse Inspection– What a great way to start the Sunday morning with a report of the all the North American horses breezing through the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CCI*** Final Horse Inspection, and looking very stylish to boot.
Catching up with Team North America after XC at Blenheim – Watch video interviews with Phillip Dutton, Cindy Rawson, and Jessica Phoenix after cross-country.
Meghan’s XC Recap – Squeezing out every mark possible by riding coolly and accurately in the dressage, and then breezing around the cross country Saturday with flair Meghan has marked herself out a real American talent to be reckoned with in the future. We caught up briefly on Sunday morning to chat about her great ride yesterday before she got ready for that all-important final phase.
Aoife Clark wins Fidelity Blenheim Palace CCI*** on Fenya’s Elegance -Aoife Clark jumped a clear round in the final phase to clinch the win of the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International CCI***. Jean Teulere’s Matelot Du Grand Val never looked like touching a rail and also jumped clear to maintain his second place, despite finishing on the same score as Clark Montgomery and the lovely Loughan Glen, taking third. Pavarotti jumped beautifully for one rail down and moved up to 10th with Jessica Phoenix, and Meghan O’Donoghue finished 11th with Pirate.
