Roberts pulls off a double
CORINNE ROBERTS so nearly made it a treble at her local event when she notched up two wins and a second place from her three rides.
The Bishop’s Stortford-based rider, who only took up eventing when she was 40, topped the first two BE100 sections with Recession and Fourstar Buck respectively.
“I share Recession with my daughter, Charlotte, who has been placed with him in under-18 classes,” explained Corinne, who bought the nine-year-old by Cameo’s Reflection directly from his breeder, Sue Rawding, as a four-year-old.
“He’s a lovely horse who goes equally well for both of us. His only quirk is that he’s very claustrophobic and hates being hemmed in, so we have to be careful with him in warm-ups. Otherwise, he’s a complete gent.”
Corinne started eventing after hanging up her racing boots.
“In fact, the last time I competed at Horseheath was over 30 years ago when I was riding in point-to-points,” she revealed.
Her second winner, Fourstar Buck, is home-bred by Wish Upon A Star.
“This was his first BE100 and he was awesome — he gave me the most fantastic ride,” she enthused.
Corinne’s final ride, Fourstar Struck, was pipped to the post in BE90 section I by Avril Verhagen and Silver Ridge.
Avril imported the gelding from Ireland through her business, Equine Agents.
“My contact who finds horses for me said he was useless, but I thought I should give him a chance,” said Avril. “He was supposed to be a hunter, but I don’t think he liked being ridden by men — he’s a lady’s ride.”
Avril has set her sights on the Mitsubishi Motors Cup in 2019.
The youngest rider in the field, piloting the smallest pony, landed first prize in the BE90open.
Cecily Hopkins, 14, made light work of her British Eventing debut with Linda Evans’ 14hh Landis Black Pepper, adding just 1.2 cross-country time-penalties to her dressage score of 25.3.