THE JPMG CCI2*-L was a competitive affair with none of the top 19 accumulating cross-country jumping penalties and none of the top 10 rolling poles. This meant dressage was supremely influential and it was Clare Abbott and MT Kenobis Touch (ISH), fresh off an EI115 win at Tyrella a week previous, who stayed ahead of the field from the outset on their dressage penalty score of 32. MT Kenobis Touch is a seven-year-old gelding by Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars (ISH) out of Lux So Easy (ISH). He was bred by Gareth Carlisle and is owned by Gareth, Jacqueline Wright and David Wright.

Just one penalty adrift on 32 was John Tilley and Kilkenny International’s Cooley Quickfire, a nine-year-old gelding by Womanizer out of Air Cruise (ISH), who was bred by Diana H Warrington.