United States Eventing Association

Second Leg of the Event Rider Masters Begins at Bramham International Horse Trials

The second leg of the inaugural Event Rider Masters (ERM) is set to take place at this weekend’s EQUI-TREK Bramham International Horse Trials in Yorkshire. With a total of £50,000 up for grabs this weekend, there is everything to play for. Forty horse’s and rider’s representing eleven nations feature in an awesome line up including three times world number one William Fox-Pitt (GB), double Olympic Champion Sir Mark Todd (NZ) and former Rolex Grand Slam winner Pippa Funnel (GB). All the action of leg 2 of the ERM series featuring some of the very best horses and riders in the world can be viewed at www.eventridermasters.tv

• 11 Nations represented – GB, AUS, BRZ, CHN, FR, GER, IRE, ITA, JPN, NZ, USA
• Astier Nicolas (FR) targets leg two of ERM in hunt for £50K series bonus
• Can in-form ‘Brit’ Gemma Tattersall challenge the ‘Flying Frenchman’ Astier Nicolas for the ERM series lead?
• Britain represented by senior Team GB riders who have competed at the Olympics, World or European championships including William Fox-Pitt, Oliver Townend, Pippa Funnell, Gemma Tattersall, Izzy Taylor, Nicola Wilson and Laura Collett
• New Zealand could dominate with four out of their five riders having represented New Zealand at Olympic or World Championship level; Sir Mark Todd, Blyth Tait, Jonelle and Tim Price
• Clarke Montgomery (USA) riding Loughan Glen the likely favourite. They are the only pair who have demonstrated they could complete with a penalty score in the 30’s
• World record CIC dressage test holder Pia Munker poised for her ERM debut
• All phases of this weekends ERM competition can be viewed live and for free on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June at www.eventridermasters.tv

The form book indicates the likely starting favourite will be America’s Clarke Montgomery riding Loughan Glen. With recent solid performances in all three phases, the pair are the only who have demonstrated they could complete with a penalty score in the 30’s. If this combination fires, they could brake William Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning’s record finishing score of 37.1.

Astier Nicolas (FR) is likely to set a blistering trail in pursuit of the £50,000 ERM series bonus. The ‘Flying Frenchman’ bagged the £16,000 first prize at the first ERM at the Chatsworth International Horse Trials last month on Piaf de Bneville. Astier, based at Marlborough, Wiltshire, currently heads the ERM leader board with 30 points. This weekend he rides Molakai, a horse that has already achieved a top ten finish in the CCI3* at Saumur this year.

The ‘Brits’ are set to play a strong hand with an army riders having who have represented Team GB at either Olympic, World or senior European championships. Hot on Astier’s heels is likely to be Britain’s Gemma Tattersall. Gemma, who currently lies in fourth in the ERM series table, rides Santiago Bay and will be using all her experience to help the eight year old mare, who is making just her second start at this level.

William Fox-Pitt (GB) and Chilli Morning are the only combination to have led the dressage and gone on to win in this class. William rides Cool Mountain and although they will need to improve on their dressage mark of 47.6 at Chatsworth, the three time world number one comes fresh from a double of wins at Tattersalls over the weekend and will be hungry to demonstrate he is the ultimate ‘come back-kid’ following his serious fall last Autumn.

The Kiwis could also dominate the ERM competition with four out of their five riders having represented New Zealand at Olympic or World Championship level, including Double Olympic Champion Sir Mark Todd (NZB Campino) and two times world champion Blyth Tait (Xanthus III). Jonelle Price rides Fairie Diamino and was a member of the Olympic bronze winning team at London 2012 and her husband Tim and Obos Cooley make up the Team NZ quartet. The couple made history in 2014 when they became the first husband and wife team to represent New Zealand at the World Equestrian Games in France. NZ Eventing high performance athlete Jesse Campbell rides Cleveland, with the pair scoring two wins at two star level last season.

World record CIC dressage test holder Pia Munker (GER) is poised for her ERM debut riding Stachus 9. This combination has scored a double of two star competition wins within the last year. Pia is renowned to be strong in dressage phase and broke the record for the EquiRatings world record dressage test of 20.6 (Kreuth CIC2 star 2015) on her former mount Louis M.

Di Brunsden, a director of ERM said; “It’s leg two of ERM and already the competition is hotting up with Astier, winner of the Chatsworth class, targeting the competition. The live stream will once again provide anyone anywhere in the world the opportunity tune in and watch world class Eventing in the fabulous surroundings of Bramham Park. We are excited and looking forward to an excellent two days of competition”.

New for 2016, ERM incorporates six CIC *** Eventing competitions at venues across Great Britain with a total of £350,000 on offer across the series. The ERM competition can be viewed live on Friday (dressage) and Saturday, when the competition culminates with the show jumping and cross-country ran in reverse order. Free streaming can be viewed at www.eventridermasters.tv

For a full running order of ERM horses and riders and times and to view the competition visit www.eventridermasters.tv