The Eventing News Bit
 Richard Johnson, who was recently crowned Britain’s champion National Hunt jockey for the third time, will captain the jockeys’ team at the St James’s Place Barbury Horse Trials’ annual JCB Champions’ Challenge. This highly entertaining relay race over fences in Barbury’s main arena on the Saturday of the four-day international horse trials (7 July) is a competition between a team of four National Hunt jockeys and four event riders, sponsored by JCB and in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund. The jockeys riding alongside Richard Johnson are Wayne Hutchinson, Tom Scudamore and Sam Twiston-Davies. Jonelle Price, the New Zealander who has won both the Badminton and Luhmühlen CCI4* events so far this season, captains the eventers. Accompanying her will be her husband Tim, Lissa Green and the legendary Sir Mark Todd. Due to the competitive nature of all the top athletes involved, no quarter is given – expect a furiously fast pace and the odd under-hand tactic! The JCB Champions' Challenge takes place at 1.45pm during a break in the eventing action, which on Saturday 7 July includes the dressage phase of the £50,000 Event Rider Masters class and the showjumping and cross-country elements of the CIC2* international sections. The jumping phases of the CIC3* classes, including the Event Rider Masters, take place on Sunday 8 July, when the main arena also features the ever-popular Shetland Grand National and a dog agility display. Tim Leadbeater, representing JCB, said: “We so much enjoy our trip to Barbury for the JCB Champions’ Challenge every year. It’s such good fun and couldn’t be for a better cause in the Injured Jockeys Fund.” As well as high-class eventing action and the JCB Champions’ Challenge, St James’s Place Barbury also features a new “kids zone” full of children’s entertainment, excellent shopping, a fully licensed bar and a wide range of food. To buy tickets and for more information, visit www.barburyhorsetrials.co.uk. Above Picture: Jonelle Price and Wayne Hutchinson competing in the 2016 JCB Champions, credit to Adam Dale
  The two highest ranked event riders in the world, Oliver Townend (world number one) and Gemma Tattersall (world number two) lead an exceptionally strong field for the St James’s Place Barbury Horse Trials (5-8 July). Riders from 21 nations and around 1,000 horses in total will compete throughout the four days of top-class horse sport, which ranges from the elite CIC3* Event Rider Masters (ERM) class, worth £50,000, to the choicest future stars in the Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horses section. An incredible nine former ERM-winning riders are entered in the Barbury ERM class: last year’s Barbury ERM heroes Tom Carlile and Upsilon, Oliver Townend (Cilnabradden Evo), Gemma Tattersall (Pamero 4), Izzy Taylor (Director General), Andrew Nicholson (Swallow Springs), Astier Nicolas (Alertamli Or), Sarah Cohen (Treason), Alex Hua Tian (Don Geniro) – and the superbly impressive champions of the most recent ERM leg at Arville in Belgium, Christopher Burton and Polystar I. It bids to be possibly the most competitive ERM class yet run. Among those fighting for a first ERM victory are legends of the sport Sir Mark Todd and William Fox-Pitt, and eventing’s most celebrated pair Tim Price and his Badminton-winning wife Jonelle. The second CIC3* class is also brimming with quality and includes Christopher Burton and the Blenheim CIC3* for eight- and nine-year-old horses winner Cooley Lands, William Fox-Pitt and Fernhill Pimms, Laura Collett (Dacapo), Francis Whittington (Evento) and Blyth Tait (Leo Distinction). The jumping phases for both CIC3*s take place on Sunday, 8 July. The three CIC2* sections, who perform their showjumping and cross-country on Saturday, 7 July, are probably the most competitive of the year. All the UK-based top riders have exciting younger horses entered, including Piggy French, Oliver Townend, Sam Griffiths, William Fox-Pitt and Sir Mark Todd. And Friday, 6 July will be a busy day, with no less than eight novice classes taking place. Martyn Johnson, Event Director of St James’s Place Barbury, said: “I’m delighted with the entries, which include CCI4* winners, CCI3* winners and lots of contenders for the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in September – several leading nations are using Barbury as a WEG trial, which is a great compliment to the event. Anyone who wants to watch real superstars, both equine and human, in action, should come to Barbury. We have the best viewing of any event in the country, so feast your eyes on the best of the best!” Supporting the superb eventing on show are arena attractions such as the highly popular and entertaining JCB Champions’ Challenge, which follows the inter-hunt relay final on Saturday, 7 July. Top eventers battle it out against the country’s best National Hunt jockeys – including current champion jockey Richard Johnson – in a relay race over fences. And on Sunday, 8 July we welcome the world-famous Shetland Grand National to Barbury for the first time, as well as a brilliant display of dog agility from recent world silver medallist Anthony Clark and his top dog Protest, and celebrity dog agility with top riders! There is also a great new “kids zone” full of children’s entertainment, excellent shopping, a fully licensed bar and a wide range of delicious food options available. To buy tickets and for more information, visit www.barburyhorsetrials.co.uk. The below pictures of 2017 Barbury ERM winners Tom Carlile and Upsilon and of Christopher Burton and Polystar I, winners of the most recent leg of the ERM series in Arville, by Benjamin Clark Photography.
 Eventing makes its Isle of Wight debut at London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials this July, hosted at world-famous Osborne House by BEDE Events Ltd.
The world’s greatest eventing stars will soon be travelling to the Isle of Wight to compete in the London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials. Sporting legends such as William Fox Pitt, Mary King and Andrew Hoy are already confirmed to be competing for top spot in the thrilling two-day event, with many more famous faces set to join them. A rider with a much shorter commute is Isle of Wight resident, Sarah Holmes. Sarah is taking full advantage of her newly established local event, running three horses in the inaugural London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials on 25th & 26th July. Sarah would normally have to make a considerable journey to attend events but she says of London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials: “It’s very exciting, as normally I have to travel across the Solent to every event I compete in. It will be nice and relaxed, and lovely to have the Island support, which hopefully can allow people to see what I travel to the mainland for and encourage the younger generation to get involved.” Sarah, who is based at Lake Farm Equitation Centre, has a long competition C.V. In 2015 she made the long journey with her horse, Lowhill Clover, to Helvoirt in the Netherlands to represent Team GB at the 2* European Eventing Championships. Lowhill Clover will be joined by two further top flight horses, Dunganstown Fleur & Greenvale Coriado at the inaugural London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials. Sarah and fellow riders will compete across two thrilling days of eventing. Each day is rounded off with a nail-biting cross country challenge to be crowned the champions of Osborne. The event will also have a range of attractions to suit both equestrian and non-equestrian fans. With plenty of shops to browse, arena contests, dog agility shows and demonstrations, a Victorian Funfair, Gin Den and a wide choice of bars and eateries available, there really is something on offer for everyone. Tickets for London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials are available at www.bede-events.co.uk and prices start at just £10.50 for children and £20 for adults. Parking on site is available. Book tickets early to receive online discount and avoid disappointment. PRICES ARE GOING UP ON 1ST JULY – BUY NOW TO GET THE BEST DISCOUNT  Triple Olympic gold medallist eventer Andrew Hoy and showjumper Beth Vernon proved a dream team combination as they won a thrilling Bolesworth International Eventing Grand Prix, sponsored by Cazenove Capital.
The competition saw 13 teams contest the relay-style event, which was started by the showjumper in Bolesworth's International Arena before the eventer headed into the grounds of Bolesworth Castle to tackle a short cross-country course, then returned to the main arena for the final showjumping fences. All against the clock - three seconds were added for any fence knocked down - with a final fence joker obstacle offering 10 penalties added or subtracted from the overall time, depending on whether it was cleared or not. And there was no stopping Nottinghamshire-based Beth and Australian star Andrew, whose combined time of 127.66 seconds saw off the challenge of runners-up Jamie Wingrove and Chris Burton, with Joe Clayton and Tom McEwen finishing third. Andrew, an Olympic team gold medallist for Australia at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics, rode experienced campaigner Cheeky Calimbo, with Beth aboard Annbalou. "It was a really exciting class," Andrew said. "I had a great partner. "When we met up in the collecting ring before the competition Beth said we were going to win. The tactic was to go fast - simple as that, really. "Beth did a great job with the jumping, then I just had to get out there and do the cross-country. My horse's owner watched the class on the show website's livestream in Aaachen, Germany, so it was great for her to be able to do that." And Beth added: "Andrew is the best team-mate I could have hoped for. We had never met before today, and I had no idea he had won so many gold medals!"  Having travelled to Bramham International Horse Trials for many years to watch and support her mum, Mary, 2018 was the time to shine for Emily King when taking the British Horse Feeds Under 25 CCl3* National Championship. Emily led from start to finish on Jane Del Missier’s Dargun, after a stunning dressage performance, clear cross-country and expertly crafted show jumping round. Riding with poise and steely confidence, Emily’s clear over Di Boddy’s technical and up to height track saw her finish on the 25.5 score she posted for her dressage on Friday. Dargun, a 10-year-old by Valliant, showed no signs of fatigue from Saturday’s superb effort across the country – in fact Emily reported he was positively frisky on his leg stretch that morning before the final horse inspection. As she entered the ring, she knew she couldn’t afford a single pole down as French rider Thibault Fournier had gone clear with Siniani de Lathus to climb to second from third place and pile on the pressure. It was a heart stopping moment when the duo rattled the first fence but it stayed in place and afterwards they gave every rail space to leave them all standing to finish on the dressage score she posted on Friday, the only rider to do so in the section. Emily’s boyfriend Sam Ecroyd ended up third with Vicki Irlam’s Master Douglas who rose from fifth to third with a clear on a final score of 32.1. A delighted Emily said: “He felt amazing. When I got on him in the warm-up he was bucking and squealing — it helps him with his spring and attention if he’s a bit jolly. “He jumped well in the warm-up and carried that through into the ring. The crowd helps him rather than distracting him and the fences were quite spooky here, which helps too. He jumped consistently and was very focused so I couldn’t be happier with him.” Added Will I’Anson of British Horse Feeds: “We have had a fantastic time at Bramham, from watching the trot-up at the Fibre-Beet Inspection Area, to those tackling the Speedi-Beet Double Feat on cross-country day, then the Speedi-Beet HOYS Grade C in the show jumping and finally presenting the top prize to Emily in the British Horse Feeds Under 25 National Championships". “The whole event has been superb and we would like to thank the team at Bramham International for hosting such a magnificent event in Yorkshire.” Bottomw Left Picture: Will I’Anson of British Horse Feeds with Under 25 National Champion, Emily King and Dargun.
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