Piana nails the highest notes
Preparation pays off for Nina Emery and Piana, as they claim victory by a breathtaking margin
A “fact-finding mission” paid off for Nina Emery after she and Piana beat a classy field to the top winter amateur ticket. The Staffordshire-based rider had already entered next month’s CSI at the venue.
“It’s 10 or 12 years since
I’ve been here and I couldn’t remember it. People told me that arena could be a bit spooky, so I brought my two horses to give them a look round. It seems to have worked!” said Nina.
Although the numbers forward were not as high as the organisers hoped (see box, Where is the final?), the quality was there and Keith Deller and Colin Ellison produced the ideal course. It was up to height, but contained no nasty surprises and the majority got round without mishap, with 11 going clear.
The jump-off was a cracker. The early standard was set by
Polly Shaw, with a neat round on Galano Ter Klomp. Polly took over the 11-year-old grade A gelding from Tim Page in 2016 and she was delighted when her round
proved good enough for the final qualifying place.
She led for only a short while until locally based Frenchman
Dan Delsart pulled off a series of great turns on his partner Victoria Wearing’s Drumin Jacko. This scopey eight-year-old grey jumped in this year’s newcomers and Foxhunter second rounds and was a winner at one-star international level in St Lo.
Dan, a former stable jockey for French Olympian Bruno Broucqsault, moved to Britain to ride for Tim Stockdale and has lived here ever since.
He now has his own equestrian business and recently started producing young horses for Ben Maher. He was delighted with the 15.3hh Jacko, who evented with Richard Jones until 2015.
It looked as though the top spot would go to France, but in came Nina with an extraordinary round on Piana. She set off at the gallop and every short turn came off. When she galloped through the finish more than four seconds
‘I am very pleased to have qualified for something — even if I don’t know what
it is!’
DAN DELSART
faster than Dan, no one watching could quite believe it.
Last to jump was Tony Pearson on Lightning 67. Tony is one of the fastest riders on the amateur circuit, but try as he might, he got home just a hundredth of a second quicker than Dan and had to settle for second.
Tony was still satisfied with his day’s work, as he had already won the warm-up class on his other ride, Amadeus M.
“I’m off to a show in France next week, so I really only came
here for a jump round. A ticket is a bonus,” he said.
Nina Emery, meanwhile, could not have been more pleased with the 14-year-old Damiro L mare she has produced from the start to grade A.
“She’s lovely, isn’t she?” she said. “I went to France to buy another horse and came home with her instead. I’ve never regretted it. Because she’s French, she loves going fast and all I need to do is let her run and not interfere.”
Nina, who runs a fruit and vegetable business from the family farm, was a top pony rider in her youth, but gave up the sport for many years.
“I retired until I was 30 and then came back in a small way.
I’m now 49, so I’m a real veteran,” she joked.
Michaela Huntington was another rider having a test run and won the 1.30m open with a flying round on her brilliant mare Alegro Z.
“I was debating whether to enter the CSI here. I had such fun at last year’s show that I thought I’d check to make sure my horses still like Keysoe.
I’m pleased to say they do,” she remarked.