Hannah Bate’s rapid re-route from Burghley proved the right move after Valdemar duly won the open intermediate at the Hillocks Farm Equestrian Cleobury Mortimer Horse Trials.
Oliver Townend was left to rue expensive show jumping errors with Jackson D’Allez and Topping, who finished in second and third after rolling a pole each over Alison Naylor’s influential track.
Andrew Downes and Loughnatousa Gypsy Diamond led intermediate section M from the start. He added just time-penalties to move up from fourth place after the dressage.
The Sandy Syndicate’s French Leave, ridden by Lucy Wiegersma, capitalised on a brilliant dressage mark of 27.6 to win intermediate section N after the fastest round of the day.
The final intermediate went to Emma Castle and Young Sorrento, one of only two pairs in the section to manage a double clear.
Read this report in full in this Thursday’s Horse & Hound (13 September, ’07)
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