Honours shared in HOYS Newcomers championship

Petplan Newcomers Championship

“He’s nicked the sash,” joked an indignant Laura Renwick after she and Ireland’s Anthony Condon enjoyed the first ever show jumping tie in the long history of HOYS.

You would have had to go a long way to see a better jump-off than the one the crowds enjoyed during the Petplan Newcomers Championship earlier today.

Laura, who is bidding to break another record by retaining her Horse & Hound Foxhunter title tomorrow night, produced a round on Beluga that looked impossible to beat.

But last-drawn Anthony set Sue Davies’s Ballade alight to the final fence and broke the beam in exactly the same time to share the honours. And Anthony wasn’t letting go of the winner’s sash.

“That makes up for last year,” he countered, referring to his narrow loss to Laura in the two-horse Foxhunter Championship jump-off.

Beluga, who is officially 15.3hh (but is closer to 15hh at the wither according to Laura), and Ballade are both six-year-olds by Heartbreaker.

Ballade will now have a holiday, while Beluga has three more finals to contest in Birmingham. “I’ve got my fingers crossed for tomorrow,” said Laura.

Result: 1eq, Beluga Ii (Laura Renwick) and Ballade (Anthony Condon); 3, Univeau (Phillip Miller).

Squibb & Davies Junior Foxhunter Championship

Emily West would be the first to admit that her previous visits to HOYS had not been over-successful. In fact, 24 faults was the best, with two eliminations for falling off also on her CV.

But it all came right for the Kent-based 15-year-old when she kept her cool from final draw of six to jump the sole double clear in the Squibb & Davies Junior Foxhunter Championship on her Belgian-bred mare Scharonie.

Emily also had the pleasure of proving trainers Tony and Nicole Pavitt wrong. When she first rode the mare at the Pony of the Year Show in April, no one thought she had found a winner.

“I was the only person who liked her — and she’s proved me right,” said Emily, who pushed pony European Champion Zoe Adams into second place on R Peroni.

Result: 1, Scharonie (Emily West); 2, R Peroni (Zoe Adams); 3, Funfair (Danielle Willett).

Stay in touch with all the action from HOYS on Horseandhound.co.uk throughout the show, plus H&H’s full report on all the action in next Thursday’s magazine

Young rider championship and seven-year-old championship report

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