Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K retained their dressage lead with a flawless cross-country round over the Blenheim Horse Trials CCI4*-L track to add nothing to their first-phase score of 24.6.
This big, galloping grey ate up the Oxfordshire parkland. The pair were bang on their minute markers as they jumped into the hollow at the Blenheim Birds Nest combination at fence 20 and powered home to finish a comfortable three seconds inside the optimum time of 10 minutes 37 seconds.
“It was just amazing. I was keeping my mind clear about our dressage score because I really wanted to ride what I was feeling not just to go for the time. It was awesome,” said Malin.
Coming to Blenheim Horse Trials had been Malin’s dream. She may describe herself as “not a real professional”, riding her string of five horses alongside her day job farming and running a yard for youngstock and retired horses. But there was no disputing the professional masterclass of this combination’s performance across the country.
There is around an hour left of cross-country in the CCI4*-L class at Blenheim Horse Trials, with many key players yet to come. The leading British combinations of Pippa Funnell on MGH Grafton Street and Gemma Stevens riding Jalapeno III, who are in equal provisional second after dressage, are still to go as are Bubby Upton (Jeffeson 18) in sixth and Matthew Heath (Askari) lying seventh.
It has been a strong day for Germany at Blenheim Horse Trials. Dirk Schrade and Casino 80 (sixth after dressage), who like Malin and Carlitos Quidditch K were named as reserves for the Germany World Championship squad, timed their round to perfection to finish bang on the optimum time.
The pair started this phase on the same dressage score as Bubby Upton and Jefferson 18, so needed to be as close as possible to the optimum time, as this is the deciding factor in the event of a tie.
“It’s the first time I’ve done it, I looked at my watch and took a pull because there were two of us on the same dressage score and I have never done that before in my life! And it could be important,” said Dirk, who went on four strides in all the combinations.
“I had worries this morning as everyone was going on one more stride than I had walked it — I was on the side of doing five strides. But from the beginning he gave me such a great feeling that it was not necessary to add a stride.”
Sarah Bullimore, fourth after dressage with Corouet, put a tricky couple of weeks to bed with a sparkling cross-country round aboard the expressive little chestnut.
“He was fabulous. I went one less at the second water [The Jockey Club Log and Splash at fence 16], where a lot of people were curving out and going on the five and I did slightly worry if he jumped out that I would be quite close to the corner,” said Sarah, adding he was “foot perfect” through the AW Jenkinson Lumber Yard at fence 18, which has caused a fair share of problems.
“He did start to get a little bit feisty [in the warm-up], I did think ‘here we go!’ as he has been a real angry little person the last two days. I was disappointed with his dressage as although what he did well was phenomenal, he was a naughty little devil and there were too many mistakes so he should have been way out in front.
“He is a superstar, he just needs to know we need to work as a team. It’s really nice as this wasn’t always his end game. He was put into Burghley when we decided my old boy was retiring. Then he did that cracking dressage, and it wasn’t an ideal scenario and I think that I mentally wasn’t in a great place. I had let everything get to me and the old boy [Reve Du Rouet] retiring and not being at Burghley, I think subconsciously knocked me more than I expected. And obviously with my injured knee I wasn’t in the best place to be riding, but he did that great dressage so I had to try. I was riding a bit backwards and made a silly mistake – I should have kicked not pulled.
“Then we re-routed here last minute. I was thinking, ‘do we run, don’t we run? Should I just one-day event him to make sure I have control until the end of the year, or do we go to Pau?’ So I thought, ‘you know what, I would just like to have a good run and then let him have a break and bring him out for next year’. And he has done that today.”
Gemma Stevens and her first ride of the day, the consistent grey Flash Cooley (10th after dressage), owned by Pru Dawes, were a picture of confidence in their classy Blenheim Horse Trials cross-country round. Gemma gave the gelding a little reminder ahead of the ditch at fence five, the Stirr-ups Flyer, and from there on, the pair flew.
“I’m just so chuffed,” she said. “After that stupid whoopsie we had at fence four at Bramham, which was uncharateristic for both of us, I thought, ‘take him home, and just go again’ and that was so the right thing to do. We’ve just made sure we are super confident and he just flew round that.
“The only thing, which he has just had a bit of a spook at before and still holds his breath a bit at, is ditches. He just had a bit of a look at fence five and backed off and that was not a great jump, so I said, ‘come on’ and he was absolutely bloody brilliant. I had a great ride.
“He is so straight that as long as I’m there with him and committed, he is such a good jumper, he is so careful. As long as I’m there and accurate, he is always between the flags.”
She added: “He is exciting for the future. I’m not sure that he’s a Badminton/Burghley horse, but to be honest I think he will be a Pau/Luhmühlen horse and maybe a championship horse as he is so reliable.
“He has such a good brain, he always tries really hard, his flatwork is improving all the time and he isn’t going to do a Chipmunk or London 52 test because he isn’t like that. But is so reliable and you know he is going to go in there and do a test in the 20s every single time and if you have a horse that finishes on that, that’s a cool horse to have.”
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