NEW Zealand’s Tim Price paid a very successful visit to the Tattersalls International Horse Trials this year when recording two wins, initiating his double in the Land Rover CCI1* on Sue Benson’s eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding Falco.

Much to the delight of the home crowd, Charlotte Dixon led after Wednesday’s first session of dressage on 36 penalties with her mother Barbara’s Dutch Warmblood gelding V Zermie 51 and remained in top spot after 25 combinations came before the ground jury on Thursday morning.

Close up behind the Ballymena rider going into the cross-country phase were Price on Falco (37.90) and the British trio of Oliver Townend with Sweeps Crystal Cruise (41.40), Tom McEwen on Splash Of The Irish (42.60) and Tom Jackson with Court Casper (42.80).

Ireland’s Michael Ryan was in sixth place at this stage on Kilpipe Jewel (42.80).

Friday’s cross-country phase had little effect on the result although two British competitors, Sarah Roberts (Honululu van’t Vlasmeer) and Claudia Claydon (King Ralph), were eliminated for rider falls at the Horse First coffin (13) and the brush skinny at the Dunbarry splash (six) respectively. Their compatriot Alison Gill was also eliminated when I Should Coco took a dislike to the Eventing Ireland sunken road (11).

Among the few who picked up 20 jumping penalties, the most significant was Italy’s Roberto Scalisi, who had been lying eighth overnight, as he dropped out of contention when Topaze du Plain stopped at the first element of the sunken road.

As ever, clear show jumping rounds proved vital and of those in the top six, the first was recorded by Jackson and Court Casper who, competing out of order, improved from sixth to eventual third, as they completed on their dressage score.

RYAN IMPROVES

Lying fifth overnight, Ireland’s Michael Ryan also completed on his first phase score with Kilpipe Jewel and, as McEwen and Splash Of The Irish picked up eight penalties to drop down to 15th and Townend had a fence down with the third-placed Sweeps Crystal Cruise, the Cork rider’s position kept improving.

Price halted Ryan’s progress when clear on Falco but, in spite of the crowd trying to lift them over every fence, Dixon and V Zermie 51 slipped to fourth when lowering the oxer over the water tray (four) and the Horse First vertical (seven) for a completion score of 44 penalties. This saw Ryan and Glenpipe Jewel improve another place into second.

“My horse was fairly foot-perfect throughout,” commented Price of Falco, an eight-year-old Cardenio gelding, “and I’m lucky that Sue gave me the ride on him. The one-star track here is really horse friendly and sets them up for the future. The first water came up early enough and my horse misread the sunken road and bounced it. The ground was great this year.

“I’ll probably do some CIC2* classes with the horse before moving him up to a long-format two-star class before the end of the season.”

Ryan, who won the CCI1* here in 2009 on Dromgurrihy Blue, was delighted with his second place finish on MiMi Falb’s Kilpipe Jewel, a horse he and his wife Patricia produced up to international two-star level until he was sold to Falb in May 2015. The Texan first rode him in EI100 Amateur and then CNC1* classes.

As the partnership didn’t have the best of outings recently, Falb was happy to have Ryan ride her 10-year-old Ghareeb gelding at Tattersalls but, on her return to Ireland following a two-week break at home, she will be back in the saddle with Camphire being mapped out for their next international appearance.

Charlotte Dixon was understandably disappointed with her show jumping round but the 18-year-old should be proud of her achievement in leading such a high-class field up to that point.

A first year student of biomedical science at the Coleraine Campus of the University of Ulster, she could only really ride three times a week as she focussed on her exams and paid tribute to her mother Barbara and her groom Sam Simmons for keeping V Zermie 51 in such good order.

“I would like to do a CIC2* with my horse by the end of the year,” said Dixon, who had a large number of supporters present at Tattersalls, while her sister Tori was constantly on the phone from Australia.

The handy-sized programme was well produced, as usual, with plenty of interesting reading, but it was a pity that the breeding of many of the horses coming in from abroad, some of whom were Irish-bred, was missing.