EXCITING FINALE AT BLAIR CASTLE INTERNATIONAL HORSE TRIALS

The Blair Castle International Horse Trials and Country Fair reached its exciting climax yesterday with the final phase of showjumping.

There was everything to ride for in the showpiece three star event as the competitors showjumped in reverse order. Clea Phillipps from Loughborough was in fourth place after dressage and cross country and managed to jump clear in the lovely arena with the backdrop of Blair Castle. She then had to wait nervously for the three ahead of her to jump but as pole after pole fell, she was thrilled to find herself the winner of the prestigious Duke of Atholl Challenge Cup riding the appropriately named Lead the Way.

Matthew Wright from Nottinghamshire has been having a good season on Charlotte Cole’s grey, Well Spotted which has won two intermediates and an advanced already this season dropped one pole but remained in second place just adding four penalties to his dressage score of 56.

Lucy Wiegersma who won the three star at Blair in 2004 and has twice won the two star was not very confident in her horse, Beckli’s showjumping ability as she entered the arena in the lead, and rightly so as he dropped three poles to finish in third place.

Lucy and Clea were also members of the winning English team in the three star team event.
Borders rider, Charlotte Agnew was the top placed Scottish competitor, finishing in fifth place on a score of 71.3. She was riding her own Little Beau and the combination represented Britain at the 2005 Junior European Championships.

A delighted Matt Prior from Kent took the Dunalastair two star class riding his mother’s Political Trump. This was his first three day win and no one was more surprised and thrilled than he was. Twenty-one-year-old Matt has ridden the 11 year-old bay gelding for two years and achieved good results in Young Rider classes.

A good dressage of 45.3 put him in fifth place on Friday and double clears within the time cross country and showjumping means that he finished on his dressage score only 1.2 penalty points ahead of Australian rider, Bill Levett riding the eight-year-old Blacker Cat NJ who only added 2.4 cross-country time penalties to his dressage score of 44.1.

A previous winner of Blair, Ruth Edge, based in Cumbria came up from sixth after the dressage to finish on a score of 48.3 in third place with Carine Campbell’s Mayhem III.

Bill Levett’s score helped the Rest of the World team into first place in the team event, the other members being Italian, Lorenzo Riva, New Zealander, Kirsty Williamson and Swede Therese Wahlberg.

Top Scot in the two star was Sarra Mayberry from Thornhill, Stirling, riding her own Tell Tarragon which finished on his dressage score of 66. Sarra was a member of the gold medal winning team at the 2005 European Young Rider Championships in Sweden last year with Tommy Pink.

Lucy Wiegersma made her long journey from Cornwall worthwhile by winning the one star class and the Blair Castle Horse Trials Quaich with the Perkins’ Porloe Alvin, a seven-year-old gelding which finished on its dressage score of 42.9.

Tina Canton from Newark was in the lead after dressage with a score of 41.8 and went clear cross country but King Accacia had a pole down in the showjumping to drop her to second. Third was Keep Your Options Open ridden by Ewart Woolley from Cheshire.

The one star team event was won by the English team while best Scot was 15th placed Grace McRae from Kinross riding her own Porthill Rusty Nail. This combination have had six wins to date but this was their first three day win.

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