The winners of the Hi Ho Silver Best Dressed at the Horse Inspection were….
🏆 Roberto Scalisi leading ALAMEIN
🏆 Rosie Fry Eventing leading ARISE CAVALIERPosted by Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials on Wednesday, September 14, 2022
The Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials event is scheduled to run today through Sunday, September 18th in England. With the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Blenheim runs in her honor this weekend as its team extends heartfelt condolences to King Charles III and all members of the Royal Family at this deeply saddening time.
As scheduled, there will be both CCI-L4* and CCI-S 4* divisions running, and today all pairs passed the first horse inspection in front of Ground Jury President Robert Stevenson (USA) and members Douglas Hibbert (GBR) and Sue Baxter (GBR). Let’s take a closer look at the pairs we’ll see this week:
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For our U.S. riders in the 4*L, UK based 27-year old Grace Taylor is entered with Ann Taylor’s Game Changer. With a recent elimination at the 4*L level earlier this year, the pair will look to their previous 4* experience, including a 4*S run at Blenheim last year, where they finished fourth, to expand on their experience.
Kimmy Cecere and Landmarks Monaco. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Kimmy Cecere and Jacqueline Mars’ Landmarks Monaco have been gearing up towards Blenheim with a stay in the UK since this past spring. With runs at the 3* and 4*S levels at Floors Castle, Houghton Hall, Bramham, and Le Pin au Haras, we’ll be keeping an eye on the pair to see how their UK prep has served them to make a run at the 4*L at Blenheim.
Valerie Pride an Favian at the Maryland 5 Star. Photo by Abby Powell.
U.S. based Valerie Vizcarrondo Pride and her Oldenburg gelding Favian have been prepping for this event with the one and only William Fox-Pitt. With two 5*L attempts, and one 5*L finish at Maryland last fall, Favian and Valerie have built their partnership from their first FEI competition at the 1* level in 2016. We’ve been watching Valerie’s Instagram for pictures from around the Fox-Pitt yard, and are excited to follow along this week as well!
Gillian Beale King has been riding for Richard and Tanja Ames of Belline Estate in Ireland since the spring of 2021. Now, we see her listed with three separate rides at Blenheim! In the 4*L, Gillian is riding Rebeliant, the 11 year-old Polish bred gelding. This will be both Gillian and Rebeliant’s 4*L debut.
Gillian Beale King is the only U.S. rider to compete in the 4*S at Blenheim this week, with Richard Ames’ RCA Royal Summer and Derena Super Star. Both horses have been previously been campaigned by Gillian at the 4*S level. RCA Royal Summer most recently finished sixth at Millstreet in the 4*S, with Derena Super Star close behind in 11th.
Outside of U.S. riders, Blenheim has attracted riders from 14 countries. For Canada, we’ll see Jamie Kellock and Summer Bay in the 4*L and Kathryn Robinson and Cloud K in the 4*S. We also see a number of familiar faces within this list, notably Sarah Bullimore with Corouet, Felicity Collins and RSH Contend OR, and Zara Tindall and Class Affair rerouting from Burghley just a few weeks ago, where both riders retired at the 5*L level.
Dressage begins tomorrow and continues into Friday, with the first pair to see at 9:00 a.m. BST / 4:00 a.m. EST (Aimee Penny and PSH Encore). You can view 4*-L times here and 4*-S times here. Notable ride times include:
4*L
- Grace Taylor and Game Changer: 9:35 a.m. BST / 4:35 a.m. EST
- Sarah Bullimore and Corouet: 11:26 a.m. BST / 6:26 a.m. EST
- Felicity Collins and RSH Contend OR: 3:45 p.m. BST / 10:45 a.m. EST
- Dirk Schrade and Casino 80: 3:52 p.m. BST / 10:52 p.m. EST
- Kimmy Cecere and Landmarks Monaco: 3:59 p.m. BST / 10:59 a.m. EST
- Jamie Kellock and Summer Bay: 4:13 p.m. BST / 11:13 a.m. EST
- Valerie Pride and Favian: FRIDAY 12:45 p.m. BST / 10:45 a.m. EST
- Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street: FRIDAY 2:50 p.m. BST / 9:50 a.m. EST
- Gemma Stevens and Jalepeno III: FRIDAY 4:15 p.m. BST / 11:15 a.m. EST
- Gillian Beale King and Rebeliant: FRIDAY 4:36 p.m. BST / 11:36 a.m. EST
Both the 4*L and the 4*S will have a free live stream available via the Blenheim Palace website — click here for tomorrow’s dressage stream and here to see the rest of the broadcast schedule. Many thanks to the team at Blenheim for making this available!
Take a look at some social media from trot-up day at Blenheim below!
Blenheim Palace International (Oxfordshire, England): [Website] [Schedule] [Entry Status] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream]
