Riders down after dressage

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 24

Riders down after dressage

PA London New Zealand riders are down the field after the dressage phase of the British Open horse trials at Gatcombe Park yesterday. The leading Kiwi rider is the double Olympic champion, Mark Todd. Todd won the event last year on Charisma, but was not awarded the trophy as he is not a British citizen. His two horses, Jued Lad and Bahlua, incurred 36 and 37 penalty points respectively to lie tenth and twelfth overall behind the top English rider, Virginia Leng. She has 27 points on Master Craftsman, holding a twopoint lead over the American, Bruce Davidson, riding Noah, while another leading British rider, lan Stark, is third on 31 points.

Of the other New Zealand riders, Angela Davies on Paramount has 41 points, Blyth Tait with Messiah has 43 while Bryce Newman’s two entries, Michelmas Day and Taurus, have 48 and 49 points respectively. The show-jumping and cross-country will be staged today. The best prospect of a New Zealand success is in the lower-graded advanced section two event, where Andrew Nicholson is lying second equal and twelfth with Seattle and Applause, both seven-year-old geldings, with just the cross-country to be contested. The British rider, Angela Tucker, with That’s Best is leading the competition with 26 points, two ahead of Seattle and Bally Cotton, ridden by Britain’s Andrew Harris.