It’s been a busy and (mostly) beautiful day of cross-country at the Defender Bramham International Horse Trials today, which saw both CCI4*-L classes, and the Olympic-hopeful-packed CCI4*-S, take to the hilly course of the Yorkshire fixture.
26 of the 31 senior CCI4*-L starters completed Ian Stark’s typical big, bold, terrain-heavy track – a surprisingly high completion rate of just under 84%. The clear rate, too, is reasonably generous at 64.5%, and, largely thanks to the very good ground that was much faster than horses and riders in Britain will be used to in this wet season, the time proved fairly catchable, too, with six combinations crossing the line within the 10:19 allowance.
Which, all things considered, probably sounds like a bit of a boring Bramham on paper. But this remains arguably the foremost track in the sport for developing horses for the five-star level – as dressage leader Tom Jackson mused yesterday, “if [horses] go around here well, you know they’re ready for a five-star. If not, you’ve got a bit more homework to do. It’s different from a lot of other four-stars in that way.”
Tom Jackson and Ask For Manchier. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
With that at the forefront of his mind, Tom will certainly have plenty to celebrate this evening. His first-phase leader Ask For Manchier retains the top spot in this class – his first spin at the CCI4*-L level after stepping up to CCI4*-S in late 2021 – after delivering the fastest round of the day to romp home clear in 10:06.
“I’m delighted with him,” says Tom, who admits that he nearly hit the deck – twice – after the gelding left a leg jumping into the Suregrow water at 11A and 12AB. But a quick, sticky save saw the pair continue on in a good pace and tackle the rest of the course without issues.
“Both horses have had a real lack of preparation coming into this, and a couple of greener moments, but finished really strong,” he says. “He just proved what a cross-country horse he is – he felt like he could have gone thirty seconds longer and really just cruised along in a nice, easy rhythm to finish well and confidently.”
Though Ask For Manchier hasn’t done a long-format since his top ten finish in the CCI3*-L at Houghton Hall in 2021, Tom has high hopes for the gelding – and picked Bramham specifically to see if his expectations for the gelding, and his stablemate Plot Twist B, who is ninth overnight after adding 2.8 time penalties, were correct.
“It always rides more like a five-star here – the terrain, the size of the fences, you feel like you’re having to work quite hard. But the reason we come here is for these sorts of courses, and Ian absolutely delivered. Hopefully he’ll be pleased with the results of it,” he says.
Tom Jackson and Plot Twist B. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The second-fastest round of the day went to overnight third-placed Harry Meade and Annaghmore Valoner, who stepped up to second after crossing the line on 10:12, some seven seconds inside the time. They moved into the space vacated by first-phase runners-up Ros Canter and MHS Seventeen, who added 2 time penalties after a couple of green moments on course, and now sit fourth overnight. Third place is held by Max Warburton and the exciting Deerpairc Revelry, who finished clear and bang on the optimum time to move up one placing, despite opting for the ‘long’ route at the influential roundhouse competition.
Max Warburton and Deerpairc Revelry. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
All six of those clears inside the time feature in our overnight top ten: Selina Milnes and her 2023 CCI4*-S winner Cooley Snapchat are currently fifth, Harry Meade and Et Hop du Matz are sixth, and Aaron Millar and Friendship VDL are seventh, while eighth place is the domain of British-based US rider Tiana Coudray and her smart grey D’Artagnan, who add just 0.8 time penalties to climb from overnight fourteenth.
Aaron Millar and Friendship VDL. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The top ten is rounded out by stalwart five-star partnership Felicity Collins and RSH Contend Or, who added 3.6 time penalties, while US partnership Allie Knowles and Morswood picked up 5.6 time penalties on their Badminton reroute round and will head into tomorrow’s competition in eleventh place, down from eighth after dressage.
Allie Knowles and Morswood. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
There’ll be very little breathing room in tomorrow’s showjumping: Tom has just a 2.5 penalty lead, and there’s a single rail covering the top five.
Felicity Collins and RSH Contend Or. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The top ten going into the final day in the main CCI4*-L.
The under-25 class’s field of nine has been thinned to just six after a short, but influential, cross-country phase following the senior CCI4*-L class, and run over the same track. Two riders within the line-up had two horses to run today, and while just one of them – the USA’s Cassie Sanger – completed with both, it was the other, five-star competitor Emma Thomas, who will go into the final phase in first place.
Though she put her hand up with her second horse, Icarus X, Emma’s class pathfinder, The Buzz Factor, partnered her to the fastest round of this section, adding just 3.2 time penalties. That was enough to boost her up into the top spot from first-phase fifth, while Cassie and her second ride, Fernhill Zoro, who had been equal with Emma and ‘Buzz’ after dressage, added just 6.4 time penalties to move up to second.
“It was amazing; I was really pleased with him,” says Emma. “He felt really smooth the whole way round – he hasn’t always been the best at long-format, but I really feel we’ve worked out a system now. He kept going all the way to the end and his time was actually brilliant.”
Their wobbles at long format events have come, she explains, as part of both horse and rider’s learning process.
“I got him at five and we’ve come up the levels together, so it’s been a bit of the blind leading the blind, bless him. He’s been very forgiving, so it’s been half and half – his inexperience and mine. But having the other horse, who’s very brave, I’m now much more confident in the way I ride.”
Emma was full of praise for course designer Ian Stark’s final track here at Bramham.
“I always love it here, and I love Ian’s courses – I just think it’s the best track to prepare horses for the next level,” she says. “The waters were really fun to ride this year – big and bold in, and big out, but still forgiving enough if you were having an unbalanced time. I think it’s tough, but fair.”
There continue to be tight margins at the top, though: there’s just 3.2 penalties between Emma and Cassie, which is less than a pole in hand. There’s a slightly broader buffer between Cassie and third-placed Isabel White, who added 12.4 time penalties with Icarus (yes, we had a class of nine horses and somehow managed to have two with the same name), putting her 5.1 penalties, or a rail and change, off second place and 8.3 penalties, or two rails and change, off first.
Cassie Sanger and Fernhill Zorro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Tom Bird moves up to overnight fourth with his stalwart Cowling Hot Gossip after adding 8.8 time, while Cassie’s first ride, Redfield Fyre, is fifth for now after a clear with 13.2 time penalties. Overnight leaders Molly Evans and Welland Graffiti, representing Ireland, picked up 20 jumping penalties and 6.8 time to slip to sixth place and round out the leaderboard.
Molly Evans and Wellan Graffiti. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Though two riders – France’s Johann Riem, who had been in contention for the overnight lead with Chronos Dojo, and Emma Thomas with her first horse, Icarus X – retired on course, we saw just one elimination. That came after a fall at fence 20B, the second element of the SpeediBeet Double, which comprised an oxer at the top of the hill with a left-handed, downhill turn to a skinny second element, for Saffron Cresswell and Vivendi Hero, who had sat third going into this phase.
Saffron was taken by road to the local hospital for further assessment, and is reported by Bramham to be “comfortable and talking to her family.” Vivendi Hero was checked over by the veterinary team and is uninjured. We wish Saffron a speedy recovery.
The leaderboard following cross-country in the CCI4*-L for under-25s.
The CCI4*-S, with its 75 starters, also saw an 86% completion rate, with 65 horses and riders finishing the course, and a 69% clear rate – though just three horses and riders would catch the tight time of 6:34. Not among those three were two-phase leaders Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, who instead opted to go slow and steady, adding 15.2 time penalties to slip out of the top ten altogether and take a final sixteenth place. Whether that closes out the pair’s pre-selection-announcement campaign, or whether they’ll make use of their entry in Luhmühlen’s CCI4*-S next week, which would put them up against fellow British team hopefuls including Laura Collett and London 52, remains to be seen.
Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
One thing that is certain, though, is that the final result of this class will have given the British selectors plenty to think about. The win went, very deservedly, to Kitty King and Vendredi Biats, who won the CCI4*-L here in 2019. They finished on their dressage score of 25.2 today after delivering a decisive, classy cross-country round – despite spending much of the early part of the course familiarising themselves with a new bitting set-up.
“I can’t thank the two ladies at the Neue Schule stand at Badminton enough,” says Kitty, who had to change her bit after the surprise elimination of Katie Malensek at Kentucky, who was told that her bit – the same that Kitty has long used with ‘Froggy’ – was illegal. “I went to them and said ‘I need a new cross-country bit; I’ve used the same one for seven years. Gags split his mouth; anything with a joint splits his mouth, and I don’t know what to do’. They were really helpful on the stand; they got bits sent down while they were at Badminton and then I played about with them. They popped into the yard on their way home from Badminton to have a look at Froggy’s mouth conformation. They don’t know me from Adam, and so to help me out [was really kind].”
The bit they settled on, collectively, is a Swales Pelham, which, while offering a different feel, appeared to work well to facilitate communication around the tricky track. And Froggy, for his own part, continues to feel at his best, Kitty says.
“He was really good. He pulled both his front shoes off, which wasn’t ideal, but he was a good boy,” she laughs. “It just took a few minutes to get used to how much I need to take a balance or not – it’s just getting the controls working again. It worked, but it’s a different feel, so both of us just needed to get used to how much leg and hand was needed.”
New bit or not, Kitty knew she had to deliver the goods to day in a bid to claim a spot on the British team for the Paris Olympics – a spot that looks hard to deny after the pair’s individual silver medal at last year’s European Championships, and long record of consistency when on teams.
“There was quite a lot of pressure riding on a good result, so I just had to go out and make it happen,” says Kitty. “He missed Bicton because he had pus in his foot, which wasn’t ideal, so it all kind of counted on today. He went out and did his bit – he’s just such a consistent horse, and such a good boy.”
It’s a happy end to a week that hasn’t been easy for anyone – but which had a few extra hurdles for Kitty.
“My week’s improved – my dog was put down on Monday, and a family member’s not been very well, but then I won the premium bonds on Wednesday and that was the turning point of a better week,” she says with a smile. “Froggy’s finished really well and Louis [Cristal Fontaine, who finished sixth on 4.8 time] was super, as well. It was great to have a spin round on him first and get a feel for the track – that definitely helped me.”
Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Second place – and the third-fastest round of the day, surprisingly – went to Irish Olympians, Maryland five-star winners, and kings of speed Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue.
“He’s a horse you’ve got to run – well, maybe it’s him, or maybe it’s me, but you’ve got to be competitive,” says Austin. “People might say, ‘oh, you’re a bit silly’, but I know how he is physically. We want to go to Paris, and we want to be ready.”
This class – “one of the most prestigious in the eventing calendar,” per Austin – was chock full of Olympic contenders from a variety of countries, many of whom we’ll see take up places in France at the tail end of next month.
“To be at the sharp end of the class is great,” says the rider, who will find out if he’s been granted a spot for this Games on Monday. It might feel like a near-certainty after the pair’s string of exceptional results, which date back to the Tokyo Olympics, where they were pulled in from the travelling reserve spot and ultimately became the best-placed Irish combination. They only get better, too: their week here began with an excellent dressage score of 26.4, showing a continued and marked improvement in the first phase.
“It takes time – I’ve never done a bad test with him, but I’ve never done this test with him, either,” says Austin, who credits Tracy Robinson with helping him find the best of the gelding on the flat. “We’ve been on the verge, and we’ve been working together for four years now, so hopefully it’s coming good at the right time.”
Kazu Tomoto and Vinci de la Vigne JRA. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto secured his final qualifying result with his Tokyo fourth-placed mount Vinci de la Vigne JRA, adding 6.8 time penalties to take third and best of a strong Japanese effort this week. Like the Irish, the Japanese riders are expecting news of selection on Monday – and after Japan’s tricky trajectory to this Games, which saw them initially miss out on a team qualification and then pick one up after the disqualification of China, Kazu’s dominant emotion is simply relief.
“I hadn’t qualified yet, and the Japanese federation’s deadline is this weekend, so if I didn’t do it today, it’s simple: I’m not going to Paris,” says Kazu, who has other rides qualified but is putting his eggs firmly in Vince’s basket. “The other horse is a great jumper but a bit too spicy in the dressage! So it’s a big relief – and third place is just a bonus. Now, we’re aiming to get a team medal, because we weren’t great in Tokyo. [The lack of team qualification for Paris] was a really tough situation for our minds – we didn’t have a great team relationship after that, but since we got a team place, we’ve really rebuilt that relationship. Now we’re a really good team.”
The final top ten in the CCI4*-S.
Now, all eyes will be on Monday and those two team announcements, which will no doubt be joined by a few more from other nations. But first – more Bramham!
The under-25s will kick off tomorrow’s final horse inspection, which begins at 9.00 a.m. and will continue on with the senior class directly afterward. Then, it’s something of an exercise in day-padding with these two small fields: we’ll see the under-25s showjump from 11.30 to 12.00 (6.30 to 7.00 a.m. EST), with their prize giving following on shortly thereafter, and then there’s quite a lot of spaniel displays, inexplicably, until we pick up with the senior CCI4*-L, which will head into showjumping from 13.30 until 14.15 (8.30 a.m. to 9.15 EST).
You can follow all the action on Horse & Country TV, and tune back in tomorrow morning for our full report on the final inspections, and throughout the afternoon for coverage from tomorrow’s exciting finales.
Until then: Go Eventing!
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