World champions Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir scored a new personal best of 20.5 to steal a significant lead in the Blenheim Horse Trials CCI4*-L dressage results on the opening day (14 September). Their first phase score puts them 5.1 penalties ahead of Gemma Stevens and Jalapeño at the end of day one, with 44 combinations to come on Friday.
The pair arrived at Blenheim as former winners, having taken the title in 2021 before going on to land second place at Kentucky CCI5* and their world champion crown the following year.
Their 2023 season has had a mix of highs and hiccups. They picked up 20 penalties at Kentucky in April, landed a milestone win in the CCI4*-S SAP Cup at Aachen in June, and were part of the gold medal-winning British team at the European Eventing Championships in France last month while carrying 20 penalties for a late run-out on the cross-country.
They return to Blenheim with the intention of ending the season on a high.
“He came out of the Europeans so well,” said Yasmin. “We pondered for a little bit after that and thought, ‘It was at the beginning of August, all the other horses still have three more events to do, he has no one to go in the field with, and he ended up only running for about eight and a half minutes [in Haras].
“We decided that, actually, it would be really good for both of us to go out and just finish the season on a good note. I think more than anything, it’s about positivity. I want to come out and just have a nice time and enjoy it.”
There is another aim this week. With Paris 2024 less than a year away, the pair need one more CCI4*-L or CCI5* qualifying run to meet the minimum eligibility requirements if they are to be considered for the Olympics.
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“We did have a chat about that after Haras, because obviously with our Kentucky and European [cross-country penalties], we could get that done and it would be nice to put to bed and not to think about it,” said Yasmin, who rides the 12-year-old Selle Français gelding for Janette Chinn and The Sue Davies Fund.
“But actually, the qualification period doesn’t finish until next year. So we could have waited till the spring and done a four-long or five-star.”
She reiterated the decision-making process behind coming to Blenheim, and added: “Thinking about next year [the Olympics], obviously that has been a dream of mine since I’ve was tiny, running around on little ponies. But what will be will be. As long as we do our best and hopefully have some good results, there’s not very much else we can do.
“At the moment I’m just trying not to forget about it, as it’s always in the back of your mind, but I’m definitely not hell bent or going to go absolutely nuts. I really would like to have some good results and then hopefully we’re still in the mix.
“We’re just going to do our best, keep looking after him and keep him in tip-top condition.”
Their elegant test delivered on both Yasmin’s aims. Their scoresheet was peppered with eights and nines for this flashy gelding’s sublime performance between the white boards, capped with a 10 for their final halt.
“I’m always such a perfectionist, and I just want to try and be better at it all the time. He was really rideable and soft,” said Yasmin.
“I felt like I could just ask a little bit more from him than normal, because usually we’re a little bit on the edge of maybe a slight explosion.
“It always feels a little more fragile than it probably looks. But today, it didn’t feel fragile at all. It’s just a really great feeling. He must have been very happy and settled in there.”
Chris Stone’s stellar event mare Jalapeño and rider Gemma Stevens held the lunchtime lead after punching a score of 25.6 on the Blenheim leaderboard on Thursday morning.
Swimming and the water treadmill formed a significant part of this Chilli Morning daughter’s fitness routine in the build-up to Badminton 2023, where they finished sixth, and the team has stuck with that successful programme.
Gemma and the 14-year-old mare have Blenheim form, too, having finished fourth and seventh in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
“She is very established on the flat and she’s got the ability as we saw at Badminton to do a test in the low 20s. But she’s gone in there this morning and did a lovely test and tried really hard,” said Gemma, adding she felt it was a shame to be drawn so early.
“Since Badminton, she hasn’t done a huge amount, just a couple of open intermediates to keep her sweet and happy. We know she can jump around. So she doesn’t need to keep going out doing hundreds of events.”
Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On delivered a typically smart performance to score 27.1 for provisional third, with the only noticeable blip coming when the 14-year-old gelding bobbed back into canter after their first halt.
This partnership, whose achievements include eighth at Burghley 2022, arrive at Blenheim on the back of an advanced win at Wellington, plus other strong national results this summer, following retiring at Badminton in May.
“He was a good boy,” said Pippa, explaining she has been careful not to do too much with Barbara and Nicholas Walkinshaw’s gelding. “I was happy enough with him – 27 is around his standard mark. He’s not the most impressive of movers, but he’s a good boy in his temperament. If anything, he was actually a bit brighter than normal.”
Kirsty Chabert and Opposition Loire hold fourth on 27.9 in the Blenheim Horse Trials Thursday dressage results. Kirsty was delighted with the 12-year-old mare, owned by her father John Johnston, Caroline Caines, Caroline Rees and Carole Somers, but was left kicking herself for adding extra flying changes on the centre line.
Germany’s Olympic gold medallist Julia Krajewski is in provisional fifth with Professor Bernd Heicke’s Ero De Cantraie, the nine-year-old with whom she won the German national champion title at Luhmühlen in June.
Tom Jackson completes the top six in the Blenheim Horse Trials dressage results after day one, piloting Fire Fly to a score of 30 for owner S.H.E Eventing AB.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
