Chris Smith and home-bred Messarado Blue capitalised on their Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) wild card to win their first purple rug in today’s opening international showjumping class (10 October).
Chris and the 10-year-old, who earned their place in the CSI3* classes through British Showjumping’s international stairway league, are in sync with each other. Chris has known the mare all her life – and the understanding between them showed in their commanding performance in the two-phase Grandstand Welcome Stakes.
“The international stairway league gives riders who maybe don’t do as many international shows a chance of getting into a show like this,” said Chris, whose partner Nicola bred Messarado Blue.
He added that the mare had a break at the end of that series – “it’s a long old season if we’re not careful” – but knew that she would need a jump somewhere to be at her best at HOYS.
Their victory today can be traced back to their middling results at Aintree Winter Classic last week – a decision borne from Chris’s deep understanding of this mare and the recipe required for her to peak at the right time.
“She has a big heart this mare and when she has a break, you have to build the heart back up a little bit, and once you’ve jumped a few classes, you’re away,” said Chris.
“The plan worked – and the plan was to be ready for this week, not last week.”
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He added: “She’s naturally quick; she won the speed horse qualifier at the nationals and she’s naturally better up in pace, so I knew that if I could be tight everywhere, she would be there or thereabouts.
“As a kid, you grow up watching your idols here – to then be here competing and seeing children looking up at you, it’s great to be a bit of a role model and to set a good example.”
“A pony with a horse stride”
Laura Renwick returned to HOYS for the first time since 2012 to win the CSI3* evoke stakes speed class with her home-bred stallion Cottee.
The 11-year-old by Asterix E Z showed incredible cat-like agility to fit two strides into a one-strided double – landing and powering away on landing to get back on track for the related distance to the next fence.
“I don’t know if it was just because it was at the side of the ring and perhaps he was looking at that, but he landed [over the first part] and almost stalled, then he said, ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll just put two strides in’. He’s like a little cat – he’s almost like a pony with a horse stride,” Laura said.
“He’s just been fabulous all his life, really, so it’s really special to get a win on him in there.
“He’s always been a winner, always been incredibly competitive, but I haven’t done a great deal indoors with him. So to go in there with that atmosphere, although he’s 11, he was still quite green. But then, as usual, he’s careful and competitive, and he ended up winning the class. I’m over the moon.”
Ireland’s Richard Howley and Navita stole an edge on Laura on speed, but collected a costly four faults from the chance they took at the penultimate fence. Final rider Charlotte Ash and Irma-Riende came the closest to toppling Laura and Cottee from their leading spot, earning the runner-up spot for their classy clear.
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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.
