Overnight third-placed Piggy March and Halo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The Blenheim CCI4*-L field had thinned by two to 65 competitors before this morning’s early final horse inspection even began, with two overnight withdrawals: two-horse rider Katie Magee didn’t present Treworra, who’d executed a reasonably swift clear yesterday across the country, and Franky Reid-Warrilow also opted to withdraw Guilty Pleasure, who’d picked up a 20 on course.
Overnight runners-up Ros Canter and Izilot DHI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Though we saw no further eliminations throughout the course of the morning, the ground jury of Andrew Bennie, Angela Tucker, and Judy Hancock did have exacting standards, and asked to see a number of horses trot for a second time. These included Helen Martin and Andreas, 25th overnight, Ireland’s Ian Cassells and Master Point, 19th overnight, Tom Rowland‘s Dreamliner, sixth overnight, and Piggy March‘s 2022 eight- and nine-year-old champion, Halo, who sits third after cross-country. All were then accepted without going to the holding box.
Joe Meyer and Harbin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Three horses, though, did go to the holding box for further evaluation. They were US-based Kiwi Joe Meyer‘s Harbin, 27th, Katie Magee‘s Enceladus, 33rd, and Michael Owen‘s Treworder, 39th. All were subsequently accepted upon representation.
Here’s how the top ten looks going into the showjumping finale:
The top ten in the CCI4*-L after cross-country.
Showjumping will commence at 11.30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. EST), and will be run in reverse order of merit. Cross-country for the CCI4*-S will begin at 10.00 a.m. (5.00 a.m. EST) and unfortunately won’t be run in reverse order of merit, but both classes will be live-streamed via Horse&Country TV, so the very committed eventing fans among you can negotiate some kind of fantastic split-screen streaming situation to keep up with it all. It’s going to be a seriously jam-packed day of sport, and one of the most exciting of the year — so don’t miss out, and tune back in to EN later on today for a full debrief on all the action across both competitions.
Go Eventing!
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