It’s not everyday you get to ride in such opulent surroundings, or leave your hoof prints on the lawns of a great house like Blenheim Palace, but that’s exactly what 100 or so entries for this year’s Blenheim Horse Trials have been fortunate enough to do as the dressage concluded today.
Clark Montgomery, the likeable young Texan making a name for himself since moving to the UK, disrupted the leader board by sailing more than three points clear of the German Sandra Auffarth, the previous leader. He’ll head into cross country on 33.8 with the distinct advantage of good form, both recent and here at Blenheim. I’d expect to see him at Rio next year, but take a listen to his interview post dressage and judge for yourself:
Fellow American Emily Beasher scored a very respectable 44.5 to finish in 14th place. With just 5 points separating 3rd-15th places Saturday’s cross country is going to see a good shake up in the top twenty.
I didn’t watch too many tests today, but those I did see were mostly pretty impressive.
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With blue skies forecast for tomorrow I’m looking forward to a a great day of cross country. If you’re within driving distance of Oxford I highly recommend joining us.
You can find out all you need to know on their website:
See you there!
