INTERNATIONAL NEWS

LOCKE WINS ON FOUR-STAR DEBUT

BRITISH young rider team gold medallist Phoebe Locke secured her first win at CCI4*-S at Strzegom, Poland, aboard her own 17-year-old gelding, Pica D’Or (pictured).

The 20-year-old also finished second in the CCI2*-L at the event on Clotaire De Ferivel, owned by the Eventing First syndicate. Both horses are former rides of Maxime Livio.

“I’d heard good things about the event and thought it’d be good experience for us,” said Phoebe. “The facilities were amazing and it was the best ground we’d run on all season.”

Their three-day journey was not without incident, however, as Phoebe’s lorry broke down in Germany with two more days on the road still to go.

“We did wonder if was an omen for us to abandon the trip,” laughed Phoebe. “Luckily Fred Parker came to the rescue and found us a spare part for the lorry. We were able to stable at the same yard as [fellow competitor] Giovanni Ugolotti and he kindly took one of my horses and me on ahead while Mum and Dad waited behind for the lorry to be fixed before driving on with the other horse.”

Phoebe and Pica D’Or leapt from 13th place after dressage to seventh after the showjumping before climbing to the top of the leaderboard with a quick cross-country clear.

“It has taken until this year for me to get the dressage marks I know he’s capable of,” said Phoebe, after the pair scored 31.6 here. “He’d been ridden by a big, strong man and I had to learn a different way of riding him on the flat – I have to ‘think’ the movements rather than ask for them.”