United States Eventing Association

King Leads First Leg of Event Rider Masters at Chatsworth, Montgomery Just Outside Top Ten

Today Kitty King riding Ceylor L A N set a personal best dressage score by nine marks at CIC three-star level scoring 32.9 penalty points to take the lead at the first leg of the Event Rider Masters (ERM) held at the Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials.

Kitty heads the ERM leader-board of forty international riders by under four points, and with less than five marks separating the top five after dressage, the £50,000 prize money pot is very much up for grabs.

As well as being an imposing three star track, the Chatsworth cross-country is renowned for being tough to make the time, indicating that the this phase will be influential tomorrow. The new ERM format means that the show-jumping and cross-country phase will both run in reverse order of placing – and with some of the very best horses and riders poised at the ready for tomorrow’s second day of competition, the first leg of the ERM is set to be a scorcher.

The seeded running order of the dressage ensured that spectators and viewers onwww.eventridermasters.tv were kept on their edge of their seats up until the final riders of the day. With the second and third finishers going in the last ten riders of the day. Germany’s Bettina Hoy riding her own Seigneur Medicott briefly held on to second place with a mark of 37 penalties, before Aoife Clarke for Ireland and Fernhill Adventure sneaked into second following a lovely dressage as the third last horse.

Dressage leader Kitty King commented after her dressage:

“I am delighted we have knocked nine points off out personal best (Ceylor L A N and rider) at three star level and what an occasion to do it. This ERM class has delivered a serious competition and I know the riders will be on my tail tomorrow so we will be giving it our best tomorrow”.

Clark Montgomery and Jessica Montogmery, Kathryn Kraft and Holly & William Becker's Loughan Glen sit in 11th after dressage. The 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse scored a 39.5 to sit just outside the top ten.

Lisa Stone, Chairman of ERM commented: “Today has seen the first run of the ERM series and we are delighted with the engagement from not only the spectators at Chatsworth, but the eventmasterriders.tv received over 10,000 viewers from thirty five countries. It’s very encouraging for the series to have this level of engagement on an international scale”.

EVENT RIDER MASTERS – TOP 5 LEADER-BOARD AFTER DRESSAGE

Position	Rider	Horse	Owner	Dressage Score
1st	Kitty King (GB)	Ceylor L A N	Jaqueline Owen, Diana Bown and Samantha Wilson	32.90
2nd	Aoife Clarke (IRE)	Fernhill Adventure	Richard Last	36.60
3rd	Bettina Hoy (GER)	Seigner Medicott	Rider	37.00
4th	Astier Nicolas (FR)	Piaf de Bneville	Rider	38.20
5th	Paul Tapner (AUS)	Yogi Bear VIII	Rider	38.30

To view the full leader board visit: http://www.eventridermasters.tv/2016/chatsworth-house/results

For Sunday’s running order and start times:http://www.eventridermasters.tv/2016/chatsworth-house/start-times

New for 2016, ERM incorporates six three star Eventing competitions at venues across Great Britain with a total of £350,000 on offer across the series. This weekend’s first leg of the series features nine nations represented by riders from Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and America.

The Showjumping and Cross country phases of the ERM competition, ran in reverse order of merit, can be viewed live Sunday from 10.30am (GMT). Free streaming can be viewed at www.eventridermasters.tv

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