The fourth day of the NAF Five Star Hartpury Festival of Dressage started with pleasant blue skies and sunshine, making a pleasant change from the days of rain and cloud that competitors had endured in the previous days.
The International Arena had a very busy morning with the CDI1* Prix St Georges sponsored by Tom Hobday dominated by British riders. Olivia Oakley and Full House 11 were the first to perform their test at 8am and they must have thought that with a score of 71.000% they had a very good chance of winning. That all changed when some two-and-a-half hours later Becky Moody and James Bond overtook them with a lovely score of 71.765%. Having performed her test mid-morning, Harriette Williams and her own Creto took third with 70.882%.
Australia’s Jayden Brown was first into the arena to start the CDI3* Grand Prix sponsored by Hazlewoods. Much to the pleasure of the crowd, Carl Hester and En Vogue took the win with 75.978%. Becky Moody is continuing her form of the week to take second, riding Jagerbomb with 73.261%. Jayden Brown and Willingapark Quincy B took third spot with 69.804%.
The BD International Young Horse FEI Preliminary started the day in the Hartpury Arena with the 5-year-olds starting the proceedings. It was a small field that came forward but this didn’t impact on the standard that remained high throughout. The class was won by Nikki Barker and Sara Lucas’s SJL Niko with 79.600%. Second with 74.800% was Zoe Sleigh and Don Zello owned by Christine Sleigh. Carol Wagstaff and her own Narocko took third with 72.800%.
The six-year-old class sadly only had two entries that came forward to be judged, Tyler Bradshaw and Mexx took first prize with 77.000% and Zoe Florence with Sweet Madness came second with 65.600%.
Only two horses entered the arena for the 7-year-olds, both doing very nice tests. Gillian Davison and her own Llorente won with 70.400%. Toby Hewitt and Woodcroft Stud’s Woodcroft Lambourgini took first place with 67.865%.
The busy day in the Hartpury Arena continued with the KBIS Young Horse Semi Final National test for 7-year-olds. Nicola Buchanan and St Giles Flamboyant rode a lovely test three-quarters of the way through the field, moving into the lead with 76.267%. The score was such that they managed to keep the rest of the field at bay and went onto win. Kate Cowell and Ziz Zara were the last in the arena and took second place with 74.217%. Third was a test from early in the day, Michael Eilberg and Saubermond with 73.167%.
The last class of the day in the Hartpury arena was the FEI Prix St Georges sponsored by Fairfax Saddles. A large field came forward to contest this competition. We had to wait until three horses from the end to see the winning test. The in-form Davey Harvey and Diamond Blue performed an accurate test to score 74.804% and take the win. Tahley Reeve-Smith and Woodcroft Valentino, who had only been in the arena just before Harvey, took second with 71.226%. Scoring 70.392% and taking the third spot was Greg Sims and Waverley Fellini who’d overcome a number of challenges during his journey from North Wales earlier in the week.
The competition continues tomorrow with the 4, 5, and 6 year olds, KBIS Young Horse Semi-Finals.
