Patience pays off for Pearson
A former ‘wild child’ ride wins on his dressage score, while a new pairing put in an improved performance to triumph on ‘exceptional’ going
ASTONISHINGLY good going after extensive agri-vating and watering meant that there were very few withdrawals from six quality intermediate sections at Upton, and plenty of top
CCI4* horses enjoyed their first runs in preparation for autumn campaigns.
“The ground was amazing,” said Alice Pearson, who donated her prize money to the event’s voluntary “watering fund” after winning intermediate section B on Roger Leggatt’s Ciaos.
Alice and eight-year-old Ciaos were the only pair in the restricted intermediate sections to finish on their dressage score (29.3) — there were just three more in the open intermediate classes.
“He was home-bred [by
Chaos] by his owner, who has been very patient with him because he was a real ‘wild child’, and I’ve had him since he was a two-year-old,” said Alice. “Team chasing has been the making of him. We did three or four rounds with Relentless, and it really woke him up and taught him to love his job — he has suddenly grown up.”
They finished less than two penalties ahead of Millie Dumas and KEC Deakon, who led the dressage on 25 but picked up six time-faults across country.
Izzy Taylor took section A on a new ride, the Lancer Stud’s 10-year-old Condios mare Liscarrow Conista. The pair hit one showjump and collected 4.8 cross-country time-faults, but their dressage of 23.6 was good enough to give them a 3.4 penalty margin over second-placed Katie Bleloch and Cavalier Micky Finn.
“She only arrived last week so I don’t know an awful lot about her,” confessed Izzy. “We had our first run together in the intermediate novice at Tweseldown a couple of days ago; she felt insecure there but much better here and I was really pleased with her and with the improvement.”
Alex Hua Tian led the dressage in section A with Jilsonne Van Bareelhof on a stunning mark of 20.2 and showjumped clear, but were eliminated for jumping the wrong side of a flag at fence 10, the re-sited double of corners on a curving four strides, which caused the majority of problems on Doug Etherington-Smith’s track.
“I thought it was decent enough for an intermediate and rode really well,” said Izzy, who echoed all the riders in adding that the going was “exceptional”.
Tom McEwen and Aoife Clark both finished on a score of 35.1 in section F, but Tom was slightly quicker across country on the more experienced CHF Cooliser who, at eight, is a year older than Aoife’s Celus D Ermac Z.
“She’s a real chestnut mare and quite a character, but really sweet and wants to please,” said Tom. “She hates being left and kicks off if the lorry goes out without her, which has been a bit of a problem as she’s been having a break since doing the CCI2* at Tattersalls [where she finished 13th].”
CHF Cooliser, by Womanizer, is owned by Vicky Bates and
David Myers.
Georgie Spence capitalised on her leading dressage mark of 25.5 with Lucy Fleming, Sue Vintcent and Molly Fisher’s eight-year-old by Ustinov, Cooley Legaland, to take section C.
“He’s really special and exciting for the future,” said Georgie. “He’s as straight as they come across country and finds it easy to make the time. However, although he’s got plenty of scope, he had been a bit spooky and had a couple down in the showjumping this spring — I think he just needed a bit more time and to learn to trust himself, and he jumped a lovely clear here.”
The same owners enjoyed a bonus when Georgie won the open novice class on Calvin II on a clean sheet of 24.8.
“He’s a real ‘diesel money’ horse — not flashy, but does his job every time and is a doubleclear machine,” she said.
Andrew Hoy said: “He was originally heading for Event Rider Masters classes this season, but my focus has been on my younger horses, which I think are the nicest group I have ever had, and I haven’t really got round to him.
“He’s a wonderful horse, but he has sometimes lived up to his name in the past and I am now finding the formula to him — none too soon! He’s such a careful jumper that I have to place him very well.”
Andrew commented that his last trip to Upton had been “last century”, and that he thought it was a lovely venue.
Wendie Foster’s Kilpatrick Knight took section D under Austin O’Connor, completing on a dressage mark of 29.6 ahead of Mark Todd and NZB Campino.
It was the Master Imp 13-yearold’s first run since finishing 11th in the CCI3* at Tattersalls, and Austin said that his end-of-season aim was the CCI3* at Blenheim.
“He’s feeling better than ever — I didn’t wear a stopwatch and just rode according to how he felt,” said Austin. “It was a perfect bit of work for him. He’s a complex character, but seems to have finally decided to mature. A barn full of horses like him would be nice.”
Not only were the most recent Burghley and Kentucky champions (Ballaghmor Class and Cooley Master Class) running at Upton, there was also a Grand National winner — Pineau De Re, who took the world’s most famous steeplechase in 2014, went clear across country in BE100 section H under Lizzie Doolittle.
Co-organiser Jessica Thomas paid tribute to the course-building and ground-care team, who produced the universally highly praised footing, and to Jenny Hayward, who has retired from the organising team after 20 years of service.