Emily King Scores First International Win at Barbury International
#Barbury2017
Emily King (GBR) scored her first international win riding the 13-year-old mare Walitze F Vejgardat, owned by Jane Del Missier at the St James’s Place Barbury International Horse Trials.
“Walitze is really good at this two-star level. She’s quite a sharp mare, has an amazing gallop and moves like a dressage horse” said Emily.
Emily’s boyfriend, Sam Ecroyd, rode to victory on The Quiet Man, an eight-year-old by Quiet Edition, for section E. Sam purchased the horse as a three-year-old at Brightwell’s sale at Addington. ‘This is the best he’s ever felt – he just cruised round,’ said Sam.
American rider Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp won section C on the Dutch-bred Deniro Z. She bought the nine-year-old from Sussex-based rider Francis Whittington as a horse to sell, but is now excited by Deniro’s potential and has managed to get a syndicate together to buy the nine-year-old.
Only a handful of riders achieved the optimum time over Mark Phillips’s fair but imposing course and Elisabeth was the only one in her section. ‘I think he’s a real four-star horse,’ Elisabeth said. ‘He gallops and is brave. The cross-country course rode really nicely, but you have to commit to get the time.’
Today’s Three Star
Today, the scene has been set for thrilling three-star cross-country action, which starts at 11.30am. GBR rider, Kristina Cook, a veteran with more than 25 years experience in the field, leads section B on Billy the Red, just 0.3 of a penalty ahead of her old team mate William Fox-Pitt, who has taken over the ride on Clifton Signature from New Zealander Jock Paget.
Frenchman Thomas Carlisle set the third leg of the Event Rider Masters series alight with a beautiful dressage test on the grey stallion Upsilon to score 30.8. He is 4.1 penalties ahead of the Barbury maestro, five-time winner here Andrew Nicholson on his Badminton victor Nereo. Barbury’s final day starts at 9.30am with the ERM showjumping, followed by fast and furious cross country action for what should be a fantastic day’s sport.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.