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CompetitionsMary King Reigns at Burghley
 Mary King and Apache Sauce have a two-point lead after the first day of Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. (Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI) 2 September 2010 – Mary King (GBR) showed all her experience to take the lead after an eventful first day of Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), the fourth leg of the HSBC FEI Classics. King, 49, has been riding at Burghley for more than 20 years – she won it in 1996 on Star Appeal – but a momentary lapse in concentration which meant she had to correct an error of course will have cost her valuable marks. Riding the 14-year-old white-faced chestnut Apache Sauce, fourth here in 2008, she missed part of the final canter work and, on arriving at halt, had to be interrupted by Ground Jury member Marilyn Payne (USA). “I haven’t done that for years,” a smiling King said afterwards, confessing to a “blonde moment”. Tapner and Fox-Pitt Poised to Pounce on HSBC FEI Classics at Burghley31 August 2010 – Paul Tapner (AUS) and William Fox-Pitt (GBR) are the riders with most to gain from a big result at this weekend’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR, September 2-5). It is the fourth leg of the 2010 HSBC FEI Classics, which carries a prize-pot of US$333,000 to be shared by the five most successful riders across five CCI4* events. The current standings leader, Andreas Dibowski (GER), who has a healthy 7-point lead over this year’s Badminton and Lexington winners, is an absentee from Burghley, and Tapner and Fox-Pitt are poised to pounce. Tapner, who looks set to make his debut on the Australian squad at the forthcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, has two horses with useful CCI4* form: Kilfinnie, 15th last year, and Stormhill Michael, 10th at Badminton. Second Hand News & Jessica Van Brocklin Win the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at HITS Culpeper
 © ESI Photography. Jessica Van Brocklin and Second Hand News in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at HITS Culpeper. CULPEPER, VA (August 30, 2010) — It was the same old story for Second Hand News and Jessica Van Brocklin as they secured the top prize for the consecutive second week in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at the Constitution Classic at HITS Commonwealth Park, in Culpeper, Virginia. Van Brocklin shows in the Amateur-Owner Hunters under the tutelage of trainer Pam Baker and got the best of the 17 horse-and-rider combinations in Saturday’s feature class for hunter riders. “It was a difficult course. It allowed for inside turns that were doable and was also wide enough with plenty of options,” said Van Brocklin. “It was very nice course, and I really love the log fences that they include in these types of events,” she continued. Van Brocklin (Alexandria, Virginia) had the top score of 87 in the first round on a course set by Rian Beals. In the handy round, the duo scored an 82.5 (169.5) to propel them to the blue ribbon. “The handy round was great! That’s really our specialty,” said Van Brocklin. Michael Jung Is New HSBC FEI World Cup Champion as Germans Dominate Schenefeld
 The HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing Champion for 2010 Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. (Photo: Ute Goedecke) 29 August 2010 – Michael Jung was crowned the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing Champion for 2010 at the last event of the season, Schenefeld (GER), where he emphasised his domination of the series by finishing second, third and fourth behind the winner, Julia Mestern (GER) on FRH Schorsch. After 12 events in 10 countries and three continents, Jung, who is being hailed as one of the world’s most exciting young riders, emerged supreme as the only rider to have won two events, at Marbach (GER) and Strzegom (POL). His reaction on learning that he has won US$50,000 of HSBC prize-money was: “This is wonderful for me because as a professional rider I am always thinking about earning money. This will now allow me to relax and prepare my top horse, Sam, for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky next month. Marcus Ehning, King of Rio
 Photo: Marcus Ehning, by Cymon Taylor. There was a lot riding on the last day of the GCT: the Million Euro Bonus, the Grand Prix of Brazil and the Leading Rider Award, which itself was worth over 25’000 Euro to the winner. Uliano Vezanni was in charge of building the course to sort them out and the first round produced eleven clear rounds but to the amazement of many, Marco Kutscher, leader of the GCT rankings, was not among them when he had two down with Catoki. And Jos Lansink’s chance of snatching the winner’s part of the Bonus disappeared when Spender S had two fences down. But Marcus Ehning was in the eighteen second round contestants and so was Edwina Alexander, lying in fourth but ready to capitalise on anyone else’s misfortunes. |
