All’s well for Nouvelle
The US tops an impressive grand prix line-up as Brits and international riders alike shine in the two-star contests
AMERICAN rider Julie Welles won the Boodles two-star grand prix in brilliant style riding the Evita Group’s game jumping mare Nouvelle.
“It was a long class and there is always a bit of pressure in a jumpoff like this as no-one likes to lose,” said Julie.
This grand prix proved a marathon affair with 66 starters and a torrential downpour causing a brief halt.
With the final round jumped in reverse order of merit, five combinations with four faults, one with two time faults and three incurring a single time fault took on eight combinations coming on a zero score.
A double clear was a long time in coming and it was local rider Will Edwards and SHW Candies B who set a blistering pace (39.66sec). But next away Julie Welles shook the reins at Nouvelle, and the 14-year-old mare jumped at speed without breaking her rhythm to stop the clock on 39.40sec.
“The hardest part for me was the turn to the last two fences, but I knew if I didn’t get in her way, she’d give it her best shot,” said Julie, who works for Laura Kraut and is based with Laura and Nick Skelton in Warwickshire.
“Nick told me off for going too slow yesterday, so I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice,” concluded Julie, whose new ride Nouvelle has been competed at the top level by Laura.
Producing the first clear in the 17-strong final jump-off was the in-form Paul Barker riding Happy Boy.
The burden of carrying four faults through to the jump-off meant the Yorkshire rider finished just outside the top six on this occasion, but Paul and Happy Boy won Sunday’s accumulator and the rider started this meeting off in fine style when Sandors Legacy won the Alessandro Albanese speed leg.
“It was a hot class over a very twisty course,” said Paul. “We had to be quick everywhere and, apart from picking our stride on the run to the last, it was tight lines everywhere.”
LILY SPINS TO VICTORY
ANOTHER rider producing a typically determined round was Lily Freeman-Attwood, who headed the marathon 83-starter Drimee 1.35m two-phase competition.
Riding her children-on-horses’ mount Topspin, the local rider hugged the wings all the way to score a decisive three-second victory over Ireland’s Matt Garrigan riding MHS La Scala.
“We had to try every short cut possible and I think an inside route and angled approach to the first fence could have made all the difference. After that we steered tight lines everywhere and stayed on good, even strides all the way,” said Lily, who is currently extrabusy combining horse and pony competitions.
In Friday’s 1.45m two-phase, a mammoth 72 starters were bidding for a €7,392 (£6,488) top prize and it proved a highly competitive class. From mid-draw Graham Gillespie and Andretti took the lead by well over half a second, and held their place at the top of the leader board for a long while. But taking advantage of their late draw, Graham Lovegrove and Alfie 192 rode a scorcher to ping into the lead in
29.37sec — well over half a second faster than the Scotsman.
The two Grahams led home a British 1-2-3-4 with Emma Stoker (Townhead Tallulah V) snatching third and, such was pace of this red hot class, Paul Barker’s flat-tothe-boards round on Happy Boy could only slot him into fourth.
Three years ago the now 13-year-old Alfie 192 suffered a catastrophic fetlock injury at a water jump, so his return to the winner’s enclosure is nothing short of remarkable.
“I’m so proud to hear my national anthem, but especially with this horse,” said Graham.
“He was really going places before his big injury. Many vets looked at him but all came to the same conclusion: that was it. So we put him out in the field — and he galloped straight over a barbed wire fence and ended up in a dyke.”
Back to “around 80%” fitness, he was back jumping 1.20m classes with Graham’s daughter but the recommendation of some Italian-made specialist shoes brought Alfie back to his very best.
“Instantly he was trotting like a five-year-old again and I now have eight horses in these shoes,” said Graham. “Early in his career he was so close to winning a rankings class and I thought he’d lost his chance, but he won it easy today and felt like he had more in him.
“The class just got faster and faster and if I’d been drawn in the first 20 I wouldn’t have gone as quickly, so the draw made a massive difference to me.”
‘I LET THE HANDBRAKE OFF’
ANGIE THOMPSON claimed the first two-star victory riding Cornet Obolensky Junior (35.27sec).
The pair topped a blanket finish in the John Deere two-phase, in which Emily Ward (Wild Rose) and Robert Murphy (Acapella) finished a mere whisker in arrears.
“This is the first time I have let the handbrake off and he was mega,” said Angie. “We lost ground at one fence when he jumped out too big, but we nipped in everywhere else.”
Alma Björklund and Flecu cleared the final joker fence in fine style to win the AC Jackson 1.40m accumulator, the Swedish rider finishing ahead of James Smith and Olivers Diamond while Irish rider Jack Ryan claimed third spot with Cavalier Teaca.
Jack bounced back on the final day to win the Redrow Homes 1.30m jump-off class riding Essenar High Hopes.
In a truly international weekend at Bolesworth, United Arab Emirates rider Hamad Ali Al Kirbi topped the 12-strong jumpoff in the Hunters Gin 1.40m riding Uxmal D’Ysieux.