As we dive into the Bank Holiday weekend, we saw an incredible day of eventing action at Bicton International Horse Trials (22-25 May). Spectators who came to the venue today witnessed some spectacular rounds from all levels across Helen West’s cross country courses, and masterclasses around Krissy Spiller’s CCI4*-S show jumping course.
Great Britain, the over-night leaders in the 2025 FEI Eventing Nations Cup™, needed to aim for as many clear rounds as possible in today’s show jumping to give them breathing room for cross country day on Sunday. A task they succeeded in, with Laura Collett and Selina Milnes putting in foot perfect rounds on London 52 and Cooley Snapchat to keep themselves on their dressage scores, and Barnie Brotherton on DHI King Nelson adding a mere 0.4 time faults to their otherwise flawless round, totalling Great Britain’s score at 75.
The United States’ two clear rounds from Cosby Green on Highly Suspicious and Jenny Caras on Sommersby assisted with their rise to second place, with third rider Mia Farley and Invictus’ added score leaving the USA on 100.5, 25.5 faults behind GBR.
New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington and Lord Seekonig delivered a clear to keep her in second position individually, with Caroline Powell and TikTok also putting in a faultless round. Nick Brooks had two unlucky poles on Lucky Jo Jo, and has withdrawn ahead of cross country tomorrow, resulting in a 1,000 point penalty for the team and leaving Great Britain and the United States to battle it out for the leg win.
The rest of the TopSpec CCI4*-S saw 17 clear rounds in total, including the overnight leaders. This leaves little room for mistakes on the cross country, with only 5.2 penalties between second and tenth place.
The Succeed British Young Rider National Championship set the scene for the day across the cross country course, with Jemima Howden and her own Heads Up setting off as the trailblazers. They put in a foot-perfect round, only adding time faults onto their dressage score. “It was a lot of fun being the trailblazer, although a little nerve racking,” commented Jemima, reflecting on her first of three rides.
Jemima’s third ride, Monbeg Whisper, delivered a stunning clear, leap-frogging her from third to pole position. ‘’He was amazing!” Jemima said, “Fingers crossed for tomorrow. He won the Cornbury House Young Horse Championships last year, so I’m hoping he can do the same again.” However, with less than a fence in hand between the pair and fifth place, it will be a tight battle for the Young Rider Championship in the show jumping tomorrow. Finn Healy and Greannanstown Monbeg Joe are less than 2 penalties behind, after picking up 4 time faults in an otherwise spotless round, with Jemima’s second ride of the day, Van Kaunitz, sitting in third 0.3 penalties behind Healy.
Ros Canter’s masterclass rounds in the Symonds & Sampson CCI3*-L left her sat in first and second, merely adding 1.6 time penalties onto her second placed Silvesters Finesse, who sits behind Armscote Explorer. “It’s fantastic,” said Ros when asked about what it’s like to be at one, two. “They were in first and second after the dressage as well so there’s always a bit of pressure to try and stay there on cross country day. For both horses, it’s their first 3* long, but they’ve both been brilliant. They’ve had a good run up to this as well so I’m really pleased that the preparation went as well as it could have.”
Below Ros’ two rides there was a shake-up of the leaderboard, with World Champion Yasmin Ingham and The Sue Davies Foundation’s Kinda Corvette jumping a clear round inside the time to propel themselves to third, and Tom McEwen’s unfortunate time faults dropping him and Maestro from third to eighth.
Equilume CCI2*-L saw Jonelle Price and Faerie Usain as the path finders; with the mare’s season so far seeing her with no jumping faults round the cross country, it’s no surprise that they put in a super clear to set the tone, with there being a total of 31 clear inside the time in the CCI2*-L.
Kitty King and Dassett Flight Path remain top of the class, only adding 0.4 time faults to their otherwise perfect cross country round. Tom McEwen and Brookfield Danny DeMuze delivered a stellar clear round, keeping them on their dressage score from day one, leaving just 0.4 points separating the top two. This is a theme replicated by Jason Wood and Laura Collett in third and fourth, also sitting 0.4 faults apart.
Reflecting on the day, Cross Country Course Designer Helen West commented, “I thought today was a great day for the sport. All the cross country courses rode as well as I expected and there were some real standout performances and maturity in the riding from the young riders. I’m looking forward to a thrilling day of cross country from the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ and 4* riders tomorrow.”
Come join us at our final day of competition, with tickets available to purchase on the gate, or pre-buy this evening at www.bicton.com – 12 and under go free.
Full entries list and live results can be found at www.eventingscores.co.uk and the final day of sport is being streamed by Clip My Horse www.clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/