Mandy Goosen and Matt Lanni booked their tickets to the final at April’s British Open after producing the sole treble clears on Little Tinka and Novella in the Premier Centres Association/easibed Futura qualifier at The College EC, Bedfordshire (24-25 November).
Eleven of the field reached round two, with eight going on to jump against the clock, but no one could threaten the leaders as Mandy and Matt set an unbeatable target from early draws. The closest challenge came from Simon Crippen on Tjelke L.
Matt went on to finish runner-up in the Blue Chip Karma Performance qualifier on the scopey stallion Ingliston Twister. Teenager Michaela Webb and Boheme Van De Ganzenakker, pipped him by 0.32sec for the win.
Laura Mantel, 18, was one of the stars of the show heading two hard-fought Blue Chip qualifiers. Laura’s first victory came in the Dynamic B and C on Fair Chance II, when her slick round held off Laura Newman and Fortissimo II by almost 1sec. The following day she defeated a 20-strong Blue Chip Power jump-off field on Truly Scrumptious.
Read this report in full, plus other reports from top show jumping venues around the country, in today’s Horse & Hound (6 December, ’07)
