United States Eventing Association

Former European champion Bettina Hoy has a sizable lead in the CCI3* after the first day of dressage at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.

Riding Seigneur Medicott, an elegant bay 10-year-old owned by Gerd-Hermann Horst, the German rider scored an impressive mark of 32.9.

Bettina said: “I’ve very pleased – he’s still a very young horse, but he’s a beautiful mover and a beautiful horse. He really tries to concentrate and is lovely to ride. I think he’s very exciting; I don’t know whether I can keep the ride on him, as he belongs to an owner, but I’d like to secure it if I can.

“The cross-country course here is beautifully built as always and the ground looks fantastic. I always thought of Blenheim Palace as the perfect stepping stone for this horse for whatever comes next year.”

Britain’s Harry Meade is in second place after scoring 39.6 on Orlando, owned by Di Davies, Irene Graham and Anita Dalton. Third is Hannah Sue Burnett from the USA, with a mark of 41.7 on Jacqueline Mars’ Harbour Pilot, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse bred by Mars.

Holly Payne Caravella is the next U.S. name on the leaderboard. She and Bethann Groblewski’s Santino are tied for 11th with 46.2 points. Tamra Smith and The Twizted Syster’s Group, Twizted Syster are in 19th (47.7), Will Faundree and Jennifer Mosing and Sterling Silver Stables’ Pfun are in 30th (50.6) and Kurt Martin and Carol Jean Martin, William Martin Jr. and his own Delux Z are in 46th (54).

Wiltshire-based New Zealander Jonelle Price is eyeing a third successive win at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials after taking the lead in the CIC3* dressage phase with Ascona M on a score of 34.6 penalties.

Jonelle, who is currently the highest ranked female rider in the world, has won the last two runnings of this prestigious class for eight- and nine-year-old horses, in 2014 on Faerie Dianimo, her ride at the Rio Olympics, and Cloud Dancer II (2015).

Pippa Funnell, the most successful rider in Blenheim’s history, with four victories, is in second place on MGH Grafton Street, a horse previously ridden by New Zealander Andrew Nicholson before he broke his neck last year.

Oliver Townend, the British number one, is in close contention on the Irish Sport Horse Cooley SRS with a score of 36.1 and will be looking to score his first victory at Blenheim, one of very few events in Britain to have eluded him thus far.

“I feel I’ve got a bit of a mountain to climb and quite a lot to live up to,” Jonelle confessed.

“Ascona is relatively low on mileage and has been quite green. She’s a beautiful mare and very quality but my real purpose was to set her up for next year as this is such a great competition for young horses. But I’m a competitor so I will be giving it my best shot.”

Jonelle rides Cloud Dancer II in the Event Rider Masters final, for which the dressage phase starts tomorrow at 8.30am. She is one of four riders – with Oliver, Gemma Tattersall and Australia’s Paul Tapner – with a chance of scooping the bonus prize for earning the most points in the series.

A stellar field includes five Olympic gold medalists (Astier Nicolas, Cedric Lyard, Andrew Hoy, Blyth Tait and Mark Todd) plus former world champion Zara Phillips, who won her European title here at Blenheim in 2005.

Two American pairs are in this age-based competition. Tamra Smith Kylie Lyman and Joan Nichols’ Lup the Loop sit in 29th on 47.7 penalty points, and Tamra Smith and West Coast Dempsey Syndicate’s Dempsey II are in 33rd on a score of 49.3.

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