There’s always an element of unknowability about an inaugural international track, even when that track is laid at a venue that’s prolific and well-loved for its national tracks. But today, designer Captain Mark Phillips and organiser Nigel Taylor debuted a CCI4*-S course at Aston le Walls that not only did the job it needed to do – that is, replacing the cancelled Chatsworth fixture and providing a suitable challenge for this stage of the year — it also proved, we hope, that the venue is a viable location for a recurring fixture of this level.

It wasn’t just the course that made this iteration of Aston seem rather shiny and new, though certainly the tough but fair questions and the enormous effort put in to add an extra 800 or so meters to the existing usable area gave it a premium feel. It was also the ground: superbly prepared and springy (and, as a fellow journalist pointed out, quite impeccably mown into perfect stripes), the dressing up of the place, and the palpable buzz, despite a closed-door policy that meant only owners, trainers, media, and, of course, selectors could attend the competition.

Mind you, the presence of those selectors may well have played one of the largest roles in giving the event, which showcased over 200 competitors, a true international atmosphere. Though Aston has had plenty to offer four-star competitors of every experience level and calibre over the past three days, it’s also been notable for providing a suitable stage for those fighting for a coveted berth on the Tokyo Olympic squad to show off why they should be selected. And it wasn’t just Great Britain’s chaps in charge, Dickie Waygood and Chris Bartle and their bevy of selectors, including Nigel Taylor himself, who took advantage of the chance – Ireland’s Sally Corscadden and her compatriots, as well as representatives of the Japanese Racing Association, also made the journey to Northamptonshire to flesh out their plan of action for the summer ahead.

Laura Collett and London 52 clock up yet another exciting victory under the watchful eyes of the British team selectors. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though both sections, each chock-full of 100+ competitors, were fiercely competitive, it was Section A that boasted an embarrassment of riches where potential British Olympians are concerned – and it was Laura Collett and London 52 who once again proved that the horse’s extraordinary career trajectory, almost freakish innate ability, and meticulous production have worked in tandem to create one of the most formidable horses on the scene.

“He’s just unreal; it’s like he already knows the course. I just sit back and enjoy the ride,” says Laura. “He’s got better and better since [winning at Pau on his five-star debut in 2020] — he hasn’t run in six weeks, but he was so focused and it was just lovely. He’s just an amazing horse; he gives me goosebumps in every phase.”

The goosebumps are regularly shared among those lucky enough to watch his extravagant, elegant tests, and their 20.5 here was followed up a foot-perfect clear around the showjumping course on grass.

“You feel like you could jump the moon on him,” enthuses Laura. And if there was ever cause for concern about his cross-country performance — and there was some, back in 2019 when he was finding his feet at the upper levels — it’s well behind him now.

“Now he’s like, ‘come on mum, let’s go!’,” she laughs. “Which is great. He’s more than the horse I thought he was; he’s just unbelievable.”

London 52’s now-established ability to hunt out the flags paid dividends around what proved to be an exciting and challenging track.

“It was intense [in sections] — the arena to the mound to the trakehner to the water came up like bang, bang, bang,” Laura explains. “It came up really quickly. But it was good — everything was built on a really positive distance, and it made you get out there and commit. [London 52] has got such a huge stride and such a go button that I was having to say ‘woah’ everywhere — he was like, ‘there’s the next one — let’s go!’ and I had to say, ‘not so fast!’ But he just makes it feel ridiculously easy — he’s so on his lines and just really listening now.”

Coming forward in Section A provided its own unique set of pressures – not just from the knowledge of the selectors watching closely, but because Laura was intensely aware that the riders chasing her along the leaderboard weren’t likely to make any mistakes in their hunt for her spot. But if there’s one thing she’s learned while dealing with the ups and downs of producing a superstar in the spotlight, it’s to simply focus on her job and enjoy the ride.

“It felt like a mini-Olympics out there in that section — there are so many top-class horses and riders, and you just know that they’re not going to make any mistakes behind you. I’m just lucky that I felt like I could go out and enjoy him; he’s so special.”

Izzy Taylor’s Monkeying Around proves his newfound consistency with second place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Second place went to Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around, the 2017 Six-Year-old World Champion who, like London 52, has had the rather dubious privilege of gaining all his experience at the upper levels in the public eye. But he’s been on the up and up since the resumption of the sport last summer, and in adding just 0.4 time penalties to his 22.5 dressage, proved that he’s well and truly got the hang of the game these days.

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser defend their chance for an Olympic berth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s no such thing as a sure thing where Olympic selection is concerned — particularly when looking at the candidates for the British team, which could be filled several times over with viable options. But consistency will count more than ever this year with the new Olympic format, which will see just three combinations on each team – and 2019 Pau CCI5* victors Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser are just about as consistent and reliable as it gets. They finished easily on their dressage score of 23 to take third place – perhaps too easily, as Tom explains: “It was all very smooth, and he just built his rhythm as he went around. The rhythm and the lines [of the course] really suited him – but it’s the difference between having an experienced five-star horse like him who finds this level comfortable now, and some of the really nice four-star horses that I’ve got that are still gaining experience. [The result] is what you’d expect — but through the years, even through Young Riders and everything, I’ve always been quite good at cocking it up at Aston le Walls, so I’m glad I didn’t do that today!”

Though Toledo had one job today — that is, to stretch his legs and remind the selectors of just how classy he is — Tom’s other rides were here to learn a thing or two, which they did in various fashions. Bob Chaplin finished 24th with a sub-30 score, a rail down, and a steady clear round, while Dreamaway II earned Tom his best-ever international score, a 21.8, jumped clear in the showjumping, and picked up an unfortunate glance-off at the influential angled skinny at 22. Nevertheless, he finished with just 6 time penalties, heralding a promise of exciting things to come from the leggy grey.

“The rest of the round, he was absolutely class — he’s a bit of a different ride to Toledo. He’s got a big old stride, but he likes to be ridden on a more free contact; in hindsight, I might have ridden that combination a little bit differently. It’s all about finding the time, and the place, and the rhythm — and anyway, as Andrew Nicholson said in Horse&Hound, sometimes you need these things. If everything’s perfect, you start thinking everything’s perfect [and get complacent].”

Piggy March and Brookfield Inocent round out the top five. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy March popped a Brookfield mount into each of the competition’s top tens, and in Section A it was the turn of Brookfield Inocent, the likely frontrunner for her own Tokyo campaign who so gamely finished second in his five-star debut at Pau last year. Though his 25.8 dressage score here was higher than he’s capable of earning, he marched his way back up the leaderboard when he added nothing to it – and his game-faced maturity demonstrated that, despite an unfortunate glance-off at an influential corner in last month’s Burnham Market four-star, he’s all class under pressure.

Sarah Bullimore and Corouet, who stands just 15.2hh. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Rounding out the top five was Sarah Bullimore and her remarkable little spitfire Corouet, who finished on his dressage score of 27.4 to battle his way back up the leaderboard. This was some consolation to Sarah, who bred the preternaturally talented gelding out of her former five-star mount Lily Corrinne, as their first-phase performance had been impacted by the presence of a dramatically protesting horse just outside the arena. Though he’s lacking in some experience in comparison to many of his compatriots in the top five, with just a handful of four-stars under his belt so far, he’s being produced with future team appearances in mind — and though he won’t have the match practice for a Tokyo selection, he could be an exciting candidate for the reinstated European Championships later on in the year.

The final top ten in CCI4*-Section A.

Ros Canter takes the win with the inexperienced Lordships Graffalo in just his third outing at the level. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

While London 52 is a familiar name to even the most casual of eventing fans, World Champion Ros Canter‘s Section B victor will be a new face to all except the very keenest of viewers. Though this section was slightly less jam-packed with Tokyo candidates, it still proved hugely competitive through the day – but nine-year-old Lordships Graffalo, owned by Michele Saul, made light work of just his third outing at this level to land the win, finishing on his exceptional 21.8 dressage.

“He’s a real cool customer — he loved it out there,” says Ros of the gelding, a maternal sibling of stablemate Pencos Crown Jewel. “It’s probably the first time I’ve really pushed him along, speed-wise, and I was really impressed about how fast he is. He had loads of acceleration, which is very exciting. He’s a lovely horse to ride cross-country, because he can accelerate away from a fence and then come back easily, and so the time felt relatively easy in that sense because even in the fiddly bit of the course, I could push on a bit and then come back for the fences.”

Even more exciting for Ros is the fact that she’s had the ride on ‘Walter’ from the very beginning; he was sent to her by his breeder to break in and sell, and fortunately, that sale wouldn’t see him go far. She’d been asked by owner Michele to find a smart young horse, and Ros knew that the one she had on her yard already was as nice a type as any she’d find elsewhere. And so she produced him until the 2019 season, when she handed the reins to Tom McEwen while she took her maternity leave. Tom rode the horse at two- and three-star level, took the horse to the seven-year-old World Championships at Le Lion d’Angers, and the adaptable, affable gelding switched easily between his two riders.

“He’s been a consistent performer throughout his career so far and we’re really excited about him,” says Ros, and it’s easy to see why: in his nine FEI runs, he’s never finished lower than eleventh.

Ros also enjoyed great rounds with both her ‘old boys’ — World Champion Allstar B finished 14th in Section A after a pole at the first fence proved expensive, while Zenshera wound up 26th in the same section after a test that Ros described as his best ever, a similarly expensive rail, and a relatively steady run across the country.

“At that level, we take a pole quite happily,” laughs Ros of Zenshera, who has been exceptionally consistent at five-star. “We’re not renowned for our showjumping!”

Brookfield Quality shows he’s got plenty of the stuff, finishing second with Piggy March. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy March led this section after showjumping with Brookfield Quality, a horse known fondly as ‘Nervous Norris’ for his endearing quirks and occasional insecurities. He finished second, dropping down from his two-phase lead after adding just 1.6 time penalties — a big price to pay, perhaps, for such a tiny amount of penalties, but one that’s indicative of just how closely fought these sections were. Nevertheless, it’s another exciting result for the gelding, who has already won six of his sixteen FEI runs and was unbeaten at internationals in 2019.

Kitty King and Cristal Fontaine follow up a Burnham Market win with third at Aston le Walls. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Not even a month has passed since we saw Kitty King‘s 2018 Six-Year-Old World Champion take the win in one of Burnham Market’s CCI4*-S sections, and he’s already proven himself yet again, finishing third after coming home just two seconds over the 6:21 optimum time to add 0.8 to his dressage score of 23.7.

“He’s so good — he goes in a snaffle, he goes in a cavesson, and basically, if you can kick hard enough, he keeps going,” says Kitty with a laugh. “He’s so nice and easy to ride, because he just doesn’t pull.”

The progression of Cristal Fontaine’s four-star education has suited him brilliantly, giving him a fighting chance around today’s track, which Kitty described as continental in feel: built on positive strides, utilising man-made mounds, and interspersing twisty sections with open, galloping areas. That gave her the chance to feel out his capacity to adapt to changes of plan on course, particularly in questions utilising logs atop mounds, which the naturally cautious jumper would be prone to landing short from.

“Burnham last year was pretty basic, so it was a really good introduction. Then this spring it was really nice with two tough sections, which was great for his education, and now here, it’s just that bit more intense than Burnham Market. He had to keep coming up with the answers here, whereas there it was a bit like, ‘that was difficult, but now you can have a nice gallop for a bit and get settled.’ It’s been a good education for him and he’s done it really well.”

Kitty was frustrated not to feature near the top of the leaderboard with her other ride, the Tokyo contender Vendredi Biats, who pulled a shoe while on course and accrued 3.6 time penalties as a result, dropping them down to 13th place.

“It was really annoying, as I had to go steady around the turns. [Cristal Fontaine] is quite adept at pulling shoes and he tends to keep on motoring along, whereas [Vendredi Biats] never does, and he likes to motorbike around the corners anyway, so without it I thought ‘let’s not fall over!’ It’s a shame, as he’s got the time plenty of times at four-star, so he’d have been fine if I hadn’t had to be cautious.”

Gemma Tattersall engineers an impressive comeback for Jalapeno III. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Gemma Tattersall produced a committed, positive round aboard the former Karin Donckers ride Jalapeno III, who made her first FEI appearance since Pau in 2019 this week. Though they certainly gave it a good go, they didn’t quite make the time, instead adding 2.4 time penalties to their very good first-phase score of 23.6.

Bubby Upton finishes fifth with Cannavaro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Former Junior European Champion and Reserve Young Rider European Champion Bubby Upton has made an impressive show of her step up to Senior status over the last couple of seasons, and her performances here have certainly commanded attention: she finished fifth in this section aboard the smart-jumping Cannavaro, while Young Rider mount Cola III finished seventh in Section A. Even more commendably, both horses finished on their respectable sub-30 dressage scores, strengthening what are likely to be dual campaigns for the recent university graduate this year: to tackle a debut five-star and, perhaps, to fight for a spot at the European Championships and become one of the tiny handful of riders to have represented Great Britain at championships from Pony through to Senior status.

Riders were effusive in their praise for Captain Mark Phillips’s debut Aston track, which presented a fair challenge and offered rapid-fire technical sections – notably, the segment that passed through the arena and then picked its way around a tightly-packed field of fences that came up thick and fast, requiring sensible, well-planned turns without tricking horses – as well as some good galloping stretches. 93 combinations started in Section A, with 85 going on to finish and 75 of those accruing no jumping penalties across the country. The time proved slightly more gettable for this first section of horses – understandably, as many of the top contenders were enormously experienced — and 16 would romp home before the clock ticked into the red. 11 would finish on their dressage scores.

In Section B, 94 cross-country starters became 81 finishers, with 68 fault-free rounds and just three inside the time. Each of those three — winners Ros and ‘Walter’, fifth-placed Bubby Upton and Cannavaro, and seventh-placed Heidi Coy and Halenza — finished on their dressage score. Overall, that makes a nearly 78% clear rate across the CCI4*-S with a 12.5% penalty rate. Though those penalties were largely scattered evenly around the course, two fences claimed rather more scalps: 10AB, in the heart of the tough section just after the arena, featured a friendly enough log atop a mound with a quick downhill trajectory to a right-handed corner. Eight combinations suffered run-outs here, while one fell foul of the flag rule and two riders fell. The final combination on course was two brushes atop a mound at 21AB, and while those saw just one run-out through the day, it was fence 22 — an angled skinny cannon on a downhill approach and a related distance from 21AB — that shares the crown for being the other most influential question. Nine combinations had problems here, including Tom McEwen and Dreamaway, who had been challenging for a top placing and William Fox-Pitt and Georgisaurous. A further two combinations picked up flag penalties here.

Though there’s one more CCI4*-S to think about this month, at Norfolk’s Houghton Hall, most riders’ minds are on one of two long-format competitions on the horizon: Bicton Arena, which will host Bramham’s classes, and Luhmühlen CCI5* in Germany. Whichever one competitors aim for, though, one thing’s for certain: this week’s competition will have done exactly what Nigel and the Captain intended it to and offered them ample real-world preparation, rather than just another qualifying result on paper. That effort could — and should — be rewarded with a permanent international fixture in the seasons to come.

The top ten at the culmination of CCI4*-S Section B.

“Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1789, before, we presume, scratching his chin with the feather-end of his quill and adding in a chicken-scratch scrawl, “oh, and that if London 52 is on the entry list, he’ll lead the dressage.”

In fact, we’d hasten to argue that, in a world where tax havens and Jeff Bezos exist, it’s actually probably more of an undeniable certainty that you’ll see Laura Collett and London 52 take the top spot on a first-phase leaderboard. So much so, in fact, that we’ve exhausted our normal line of questioning and are considering making a list of brand new and totally off-topic queries to ask the 2020 Pau winner after her performances: things like “what is London 52’s favourite colour?” “Do you think London 52 prefers N*SYNC or the Backstreet Boys?” “Who did London 52 support for the 2021 London mayoral election — and, indeed, who would have been his chosen candidate for the 1952 London mayoral election?” “If London 52 was a cheese, what kind would he be?” And, perhaps most importantly, “If Mr Bass is named for Chuck Bass from the seminal noughties CW drama Gossip Girl, which character is London 52?” (His stable name would suggest that he’s dishy Dan Humphrey, but his smokey eye leans more towards a latter-years Jenny, though considerably more tolerable.)

“Actually, I think of myself as more of a Dorota” — London 52, maybe. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

From an outside perspective, it can be all too easy to think of a partnership of this calibre as being utterly infallible on the flat, but London 52 is still a young and relatively inexperienced top-level horse at just twelve and as everyone who has ever trudged their way around a dressage arena knows, there’s always a marginal gain to be made somewhere. For Laura, the focus has been on ensuring that Dan’s confidence and rideability grows in tandem with his physical strength and maturity.

“The more rideable he is, the more I’m able to really ride those movements; he was always able to do them, but I sometimes felt like I was fudging it a bit and making sure they didn’t fall apart. Now, it feels like I can ride him into a shoulder-in or a half-pass and then say, ‘right, now show them what you’ve got.’ He likes this bit,” she laughs, but, she says, “he prefers to be on the surface and showing off.” That’s certainly what he was able to do today, and the difference felt marked for Laura, who we last saw campaign the gelding over the rather rolling terrain of Burnham Market’s dressage arena, in which he scored a 23.8.

“I felt at Burnham that he got a good mark, but he didn’t feel as good as he can,” she says. “Here, he felt like I could show him off — and he wanted to show off, which he didn’t want to do at Burnham. He was conservative there and didn’t want to do the biggest trot.”

Laura relishes the opportunity to let him bask in his own extravagance, partly because that tendency to perform isn’t necessarily something that came naturally to him: “he’s learnt to be a show-off; he was always a shy horse but now he believes in himself and everything that he’s doing. It shows, and it makes my job easy.”

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Yesterday’s leaders Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around slip down one spot to overnight second on 22.5, while Tom McEwen and his own Pau winner Toledo de Kerser slot neatly into provisional third place on a very respectable 23. This hardly an outlier score for the French-bred gelding, who regularly makes his presence known at the preferable end of the leaderboard, but for Tom, there were minor improvements to be found in his work — and those had come from a tactical bit of ringwork at home.

“We’ve been at home quite a lot and there hasn’t been much to do, so I’ve been riding through the Olympic test a bit,” he says. That test and this week’s, CCI4* test B, are remarkably similar: they utilise short, snappy transitions between lateral movements, they employ a mid-test halt and reinback and, crucially, they feature a much smaller walk section sans pirouettes, which means that riders have limited time and space to nail the transitions in, within, and out of the walk, and every step within the gait must be top quality.

“It very much suits him, with that little bit of walk, then the more complicated canter work and short, sharp trot work,” says Tom, who made a polished performance of the early segment of the test with its fiddly transitions from shoulder-in into a 10m demi-volte, from which the shift into trot half-pass can so easily get sloppy or disjointed.

Though Aston — which is regularly used for Team GB’s training sessions — could offer some advantage to horses who are familiar and comfortable with it as a venue, Tom admits he never usually has much luck in this phase here: “We’re very lucky to be back at Aston,” he laughs, “but at the same time, I usually do my worst tests here!”

Tina Cook’s Billy the Red skips through his changes. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

In fact, today’s leaderboard in this phase has become something of a showcase of Britain’s top talent – and certainly, they continue to make the British selectors’ jobs that much harder with their impressive performances. Pippa Funnell and her reigning Burghley champion MGH Grafton Street sit fourth on 24.5, while Nicola Wilson and Bulana, Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet and Tina Cook and Billy the Red all slot in a penalty behind them on 25.5 for a three-way tie for fifth place overnight. Though we’re used to seeing excellent marks from each of these partnerships, it was Tina who was most delighted by the feeling she got in the ring — and the enthusiastic praise bestowed upon her outside of it by British team coach Dickie Waygood.

“I don’t often get praise like that,” she laughs. “All my life I’ve found the dressage frustrating; I always seem to have had sharp horses who are brilliant in the jumping phases, but then do slightly struggle. I’m a tall girl and I find it hard to look elegant! But both horses [Billy the Red and Calvino II, 19th on 27.4] went well today.”

Team stalwart Billy has been a particularly fond frustration for the rider, who has had to work hard to manage his innate sharpness — a problem that has occasionally cropped up in the dressage ring.

“[Billy] has just got a bright brain; he’s not malicious, and he’s not nasty — he was just born bright and it’s just about finding the key. He isn’t one you’d want to overwork, as he’d probably get worse, so it’s just that fine line of doing twenty minutes and then hoping,” she explains. “He’s desperately spooky — oh my god — on hacks and stuff like that. When I rode him this morning he spooked at a pile of stinging nettles, slipped, and whipped ’round. He’s always the same, but that’ll be him all his life; sometimes he spooks at flowers, sometimes he doesn’t, and so I always have to prepared for the unexpected. You just have to smile your legs around him, smile, and get on with it! I ride him at home myself — I don’t think it’s fair on anyone else to have to ride him just in case anything happens, so it’s me and him all the time.”

William Fox-Pitt and Little Fire. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

William Fox-Pitt fell just short of joining the tie when he scored a 25.7 with Little Fire, who had originally been tentatively aimed at Kentucky before swapping places with Oratorio for the big trip overseas. Unlike the trio of women just ahead of him, though, William doesn’t see this week’s competition as part of a longer road to Tokyo this summer.

“He’s missed his Olympic slot, and there’s nowhere to really get selected from, so that’s fine,” he says, musing that “if enough horses go lame, perhaps we’ll get picked for the Europeans. It would be fun to go to Switzerland.”

As an onlooker, one can’t help but feel that William is rather underselling himself and the horse as a combination — always a flashy sort, ‘Aidan’ looked every inch the performer in the arena.

“He always feels pleased with himself — he’s never lacked in that self-confidence,” says William wryly. “It was good for him to do a grown-up test, as we’ve not done one this year. The last one he did would have been Burgham [in August of 2020] — that’s quite a long time in a horse’s life!”

Most notable, perhaps, was the work just prior to entering at A — as William and Aidan trotted around the perimeter of the arena, a sudden burst of elevation saw them working in a pace more akin to a passage.

“He has got a good trot in there that I’ve been working on, though it doesn’t always come out. If one of the girls — Pippa or Piggy — was on him, he’d do it all the time, but they’re not, so I’m working on getting there,” says William. “Overall, I was very pleased with what was a mistake-free ride — other than one little twitch of his nose — and that’s what I wanted.”

Ros Canter and the ultra-consistent Zenshera. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy March and Brookfield Inocent drop from their overnight second-placed position to ninth going into the jumping phases, while the top ten is rounded out by Ros Canter and ‘family pet’ Zenshera, who scored a 26.1 after delivering what a delighted Ros dubbed his best-ever test.

“I think he probably did the best test he’s ever done in his life; I was just so chuffed with him today,” she beams. “Little Zenshera just stayed with me so well; I don’t think I could have ridden any movement for him to have gone any better. Every one, he did to the best of his ability — previously, he’s made the odd mistake and he can get a bit ahead of himself, and enjoys himself a bit too much, but today was a real clear round. Obviously showjumping is our weak link, so we’ll enjoy what he did today, give him lots of pats, and hope it inspires him to pick up his toes tomorrow!”

The top ten at the culmination of dressage in CCI4*-S Section A.

Yesterday’s Section B leaders Piggy March and Brookfield Quality remain unusurped atop the leaderboard today on their score of 21.7, but behind them, there were a plethora of new additions to the top ten.

It was a good day in the office for Ros Canter, who put a 21.8 on the board with the relatively inexperienced Lordships Graffalo to tie for second place with Tom McEwen and Dreamaway II.

“He’s a really exciting young horse – he’s just lovely and rideable in the arena and as a big horse, he gets stronger every year,” she says of the nine-year-old British-bred Sport Horse, who tackles his third — and what will arguably be his most challenging — CCI4*-S this week. It feels like kismet, a bit, that he should be tied with Tom – after all, it was he who deputised for Ros in 2019, competing Lordships Graffalo at two- and three-star while his usual pilot was pregnant.

Tom McEwen and Dreamaway. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

For Tom’s part, his own 21.8 represents his career-best international score – a fact that might seem almost unbelievable considering the prowess of his five-star winner Toledo de Kerser in this phase. Although Dreamaway has been a consistent performer between the boards across his twelve international starts, we tend to expect a score around the 28.5 mark for the gelding, and his own previous best score was a 25.3 at the CCI2*-L level.

Alex Hua Tian and his Olympic partner Don Geniro produced a characteristically extravagant, correct test to put a 22.5 on the board next to the Chinese flag – the only instance of another nationality making it into either section’s top ten. They sit in overnight fourth place, followed by an on-form Harry Meade, still riding high after his fifth place finish at Kentucky last month.

Harry Meade and Red Kite. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Here, all eyes were on the under-the-radar Red Kite, who comes forward for his sophomore CCI4*-S and who scored a wholly unexpected 22.7 to move up into fifth. Well, unexpected for everyone, that is, except Harry himself: “He’s got loads of ability, but he’s quite spunky – if he was a pupil in a class, you’d say that if he stopped mucking about, he could be a scholar! He’s got lots of capability.”

William Fox-Pitt and Georgisaurous. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

William Fox-Pitt makes a double appearance in the Section B top ten with the relatively inexperienced Georgisaurus, who returns to international competition for the first time since 2019. Then, we saw him start — though not complete — his CCI4*-S debut at Blenheim, and the now-ten year old has obviously used his time at home well. He scored a 23.6 today, considerably lower than his usual mid-to-high 20s marks, but a stroke of brilliance that was hinted at when we saw him put a 20.5 on the board in the CCI3*-L at Tattersalls two years ago. He sits sixth overnight, while stablemate Grafennacht — slightly more experienced, with a CCI4*-S and CCI4*-L completion under her belt already — lies ninth on 24.5.

“I’ve never pretended to be a dressage queen but I’m trying, still — and still enjoying it,” says William.”They both had little mistakes but were very pleasing — they’re lovely horses on the flat. We’ve got some work to do but I was so pleased with their brains, particularly as they’re inexperienced and neither has done an Advanced test in eight months.”

Between the two sit Kitty King‘s Cristal Fontaine —  who we saw take the win at Burnham Market last month — in eighth on 23.7, and Gemma Tattersall and Jalapeno III, who posted a 23.6 yesterday. The top ten is rounded out by Yasmin Ingham and Sandman 7, who we saw put a 25.4 up in yesterday’s session.

Tomorrow sees the showjumping and cross-country phases play out in tandem, with over seven hours of action over the course of the day. And although the quality of the dressage scores across the two sections might make your eyes water a little bit (or it should, at least — you have to look as far as 34th place to find someone whose score begins with a ‘3’), there’s plenty left to do, including a big, technical showjumping track on grass and, of course, a brand new four-star cross-country course that has been designed to give these horses and riders a true test for the level. With scores this tightly bunched, we’ll be expecting the leaderboard to look very different by tomorrow night.

We’ll take a closer look at Captain Mark Phillips’ challenging track this evening — so keep it locked onto EN for all you need to know, and as always, Go Eventing!

The top ten after dressage in CCI4*-S Section B.

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