Britain’s Caroline Harris and D. Day are on the brink of a second five-star title after posting the fastest Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials cross-country round of the day.
Caroline and the 12-year-old Billy Mexico gelding rode the only clear inside the 11-minute optimum time – stopping the clock with 18 seconds to spare – to move from fourth after the dressage into the overnight lead.
Caroline told H&H she was “over the moon” with D. Day, owned by Lucy Matthews, Fiona Olivier, Marie Anne Richardson and Heather Royle, following the Luhmühlen Horse Trials five-star cross-country.
“He was incredible,” she said. “He’s pretty small, and I think it really helps on a course like this because he’s so nippy and easy to turn.
“He’s never strong and he comes back to me, he’s very polite to ride. His mum was full Thoroughbred, so he has got a lot of blood and really does gallop. He’s the easiest horse to go quick on.”
Cross-country course-designer Mike Etherington-Smith’s technical track gave the riders plenty to think about. Of the 20 cross-country starters, 15 completed and nine jumped clear with time-faults.
The second fastest round came from Frenchman Benjamin Massie with the 10-year-old Upsilon daughter Guess Star, who was a second over the optimum time, for overnight sixth.
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“It definitely rode very, very intense – but to be fair, everything rode exactly how I walked it,” said Caroline.
“I think it’s probably one of the only rounds I’ve ever had where everything really did come up exactly how I wanted it to.”
On the whole, the course did not cause too many problems, but the Mesmer Pond – which included fences 11, 12ab, and 13ab – proved tricky for some. Five combinations had faults at the arrowhead at 12b, including world number one Tim Price, who parted ways from Happy Boy, when he ran out the side.
Caroline said this was one of the trickiest combinations on course.
“It walked a very long six or a short seven. It was really big, up to height and wide. I think if the horse wasn’t confident and committed, then it was just very easy to slip out and not jump it,” she said.
“From there all the way home, every single combination, there was lot. You had to really think your way around and I came into each combination thinking about what Dickie Waygood and Chris Bartle had told me to do.
“I think if you rode it exactly how you walked it, it rode really well. You just had to be on it the whole way.”
Caroline Harris: “I wanted to put everything right”
Caroline and D. Day already have a five-star title to their name, having won Pau in 2024 – but Caroline has not forgotten about her frustrating fall at the home Europeans last September.
“I did feel there was quite a lot of pressure on us [at Luhmühlen], everyone was talking about how we were the quickest in the field – and I messed up at Blenheim, so I really wanted to put everything right,” she said.
“I feel I truly did that today. He was just phenomenal from start to finish.
“He is the ultimate trier. There is nothing exceptional about him, he’s not the most big-moving horse, he wouldn’t be the scopiest, but he’s all heart and gives me 110% every single time. I couldn’t ask for more than that.”
Dressage leaders Emily King and Valmy Biats jumped clear in the Luhmühlen Horse Trials five-star cross-country with 6.8 time-faults, which saw them slip into provisional second. Emily was initially given nine penalties for a missed flag at the Sternpartner Water fence 20b, an arrowhead, but following review, these were removed.
“I’m super pleased with Valmy,” said Emily, who owns the 17-year-old with her father David.
“He’s an amazingly brave horse, which can sometimes make him a little bit hard to ride. I’ve fallen into that trap a few times around some bigger events, so I just wanted to think a little bit extra for him around the course.”
Emily had to give Valmy a bit more encouragement than usual as they navigated the 27 fences.
“I don’t know if it was the heat, but he was a little bit quieter today. This crazy lion that I’m usually trying to navigate around the course was not so ‘liony’,” said Emily.
“I suddenly had to start kicking and flapping, and basically had to adapt a bit. When you have your plan and the horses are exactly how they normally are and it just happens seamlessly, it’s the most amazing feeling – but it’s not always the case. It was a bit like that with Valmy today.”
Emily said overall Valmy was “super”.
“Maybe the strides and the approach wasn’t quite as I imagined with some of them, but he was so good on the fences,” she said.
“He was quick with his legs, really straight, jumped everything, and came through the finish super quick. I’m really pleased.”
Luhmühlen Horse Trials five-star cross-country: Boyd Martin holds third
US rider Boyd Martin and Shanroe Cooley, owned by Dallas LLC, climbed from 11th after the dressage to provisional third.
The four-time Olympian expertly piloted the 11-year-old gelding – a former ride of Liz Halliday – round his first-five star to come home just six seconds over the optimum time. They added 2.4 time-penalties to their scorecard to carry 38.1 into the showjumping.
“I’m thrilled with him,” said Boyd, who took on the ride following Liz’s accident.
“I was sort of on the fence about whether to take the horse on. He’s a bigger, heavier horse than what I usually go for, but Liz has done a magnificent job producing him. There’s not that many out there that have the grit and determination that Shanroe has.
“I really didn’t know what to expect here, we came wondering if he’s a five-star horse. We kept going through the track, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Hey, he’s feeling pretty good’. Then I was looking at my watch thinking, ‘We’re in this’.
“The last couple of minutes he started to tire a bit, but he just grit his teeth and pricked his ears. I’ve got so much admiration for these horses. They really are true competitors. He really fought hard for me.”
Boyd said he was “thrilled” for Shanroe and his owners.
“Most importantly I’m thrilled for Liz. This has been a horse with a crazy story and to have a successful round at five-star is a great accomplishment,” he said.
“I’ve got half of America texting my phone at the moment. He’s got a massive following, all of Liz’s students and fans and all of her owners are cheering this horse on. I think I’ve got to reply to about 400 text messages.”
Luhmühlen Horse Trials five-star cross-country: the rest of the top 10
Pathfinders Jonelle Price and the Grape Syndicate’s Grappa Nera lie in fourth, having collected 4.4 time-penalties across country. Jonelle is fifth with David and Karie Thomson’s Capitaine de Hus de Z, who stopped the clock on 11min 18 sec, for 7.2 time-penalties.
The Thomson’s have another horse in the top 10, Dallas 13, who was given a super run round his first five-star by James Avery. The pair were third after the dressage and lie ninth overnight on 46.6, having accrued 11-penalties for activating the MIM clip at the second part of the Luhmühlen Kombination (fence 22ab) plus six time-faults.
British-based US rider Hallie Coon and her own Kapriccio were another to activate the safety device at this fence, and along with 4.4 time-penalties, they go into the showjumping phase in seventh.
Home side rider Katharina Meyer and Aspen T were among the jumping clears. They stopped the clock on 11min 11sec to add 4.4 time-faults to their 41.4 dressage, for overnight eighth.
“Every inch the five-star horse”
Britain’s Harry Horton and Cooley With Ambition round out the top 10 having jumped a brilliant clear at their first five-star. Harry guided Ballinger Equine and the Ambition Syndicate’s 11-year-old home with 35.6 time-penalties.
“He was class. He was absolutely phenomenal,” Harry told H&H.
“The plan was to go all the direct routes, but he got a little tired so I improvised a little bit at the end and took the longer route at the last combination. He felt every inch the five-star horse.”
Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
