Todd triumphs on Charisma

Press, 13 March 1985, Page 64

Todd triumphs on Charisma

PA London The Olympic gold medal combination of Mark Todd and Charisma opened the English horse trials season in triumph at Crookham, Aidershot. Andrew Nicholson and Andrew Benny, who were also in the New Zealand team at the Olympics, joined the record field of more than 600 attracted to the season’s first three-day meeting. But they, along with other promising English riders, were unable to reach the standard set by Todd, who was reunited with his Olympic mount less than a month ago. The open intermediate section was divided into two because of the number of entries and Todd made the' best possible score of 22 in the dressage. After Charisma dropped one rail in the show-jump-ing it was lucky for Todd

that his main rival, an English rider, Rodney Powell, on Pomeroy, also had a rail down. Although Pomeroy rode a slightly faster crosscountry, the New Zealander managed to hold on to the lead by one point. The British riders, Andy Griffiths (Hullabaloo) and Robert Lemieux (Gamesmaster), were first and second in the other part of the open section where Virginia Holgate, who won the bronze medal at Los Angeles, came third on Murphy Himself. Benny did well on his Olympic mount, Jade, to go clear in the cross-country, but he just missed out on the placings when the pair had a rail down in the showjumping. Nicholson said he was pleased with his new mount Malibu, of which he is joint owner. He sold his Olympic horse, Kahlua, to a littleknown American rider after Los Angeles for $U535,000.