Oliver Townend wins two-star at Houghton International Horse Trials

Oliver Townend has scored numerous victories in his career but this year’s Subaru Houghton International was his first ever three day event win. He took the CCI** riding Andrew Cawthray’s Waterview on his dressage score of 35.1pen.

The Leicestershire-based rider lead from start to finish but it came down to the wire in a tense final show jumping phase when he finished just 3.6 penalties ahead of Matthew Wright and Hugginstown. Last year’s winner William Fox-Pitt had to settle for third with Chuckelberry and was also fourth on Bee Animas.

Oliver said: “Waterview wouldn’t be the most careful horse in the world but this is the best he’s ever jumped. I knew the time allowed was tight but I also knew how carefully I had to ride to stay clear!

“It means a lot to secure my first win — I feel like I’ve been second at just about every other event in the country — Houghton will always be special to me now.”

Don’t miss Horse & Hound full report from the Subaru Houghton International Horse Trials, including the two CCI* sections, in this Thursday’s issue (29 May, ’08)

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