Two long days of Dressage have come to an end and the late night shoppers are enjoying the evening sun and CIC*** trot up in front of Bramham House. The CCI*** leader board underwent a few shake ups through the day but it wasn’t until the end that the real changes occurred.

In the first morning session, Badminton winner Paul Tapner went into third with Maybee IV but it was the final group of the day which made all the difference. William Fox-Pitt with his new ride Parklane Hawk, a NZ thoroughbred who raced until he was seven, equalled Jean-Lou Bigot’s score of 46.4 but the next in, Pippa Funnell, beat them both. Riding the impressive chestnut Redesigned, Pippa showed everyone she still knows how to put on a class performance to post a score of 42.3 to take a four penalty lead. Next in was Piggy French with Lemington Lets Dance and she gave it a good try to shake the leaders up but she couldn’t better Ewart Woolley’s score from yesterday to slot into fifth.

Just ten combinations were left to complete the dressage in the CIC*** this morning and no-one could make an impact on the overnight top ten. Only Poland’s Lukasz Kazmierczak came close with his second ride, Ostler but they missed out and lie 11th. So, Mark Todd heads to the show jumping in the morning as the leader after the dressage.

In a repeat of the senior section, the Bishop Burton Under 25 CCI*** was a battle between France and Britain with the home side just having the edge. Young Rider European Champion Laura Collett demonstrated she’s already forged a good partnership with her new ride Ginger May Killinghurst and scored over 70% from all three judges to post a score of 41.3, four marks ahead of France’s rising star, Maxime Livio and Jaipur II. Local rider Rachael Lupton with The Chenko Artist (a star on BBC York earlier in the day – the horse, not Rachael!) pulled off the performance of their careers to lie third. Donatien Schauly and Seculaire from France occupy fourth on 49.4 and Flora Harris completes the top five on Law Choice.

Ian Stark’s 2010 course has met with mixed reviews – mostly depending on the riders’ age! It’s a return to some good old fashioned style fences including a number of ‘rider frighteners’ which the sport hasn’t seen for a good few years. Ian has cleverly mixed big and bold with tests of accuracy and the riders’ ability to hold a line. The Dickinson Dees water early on the course has caused a fair amount of head scratching amongst the riders with a range of options but one thing is for sure, horses that go clear through the straight route, will deserve a huge pat and will feature in the future entry lists for Burghley and Badminton!

The forecast for tomorrow is fair so come and join us for what promises to be a fantastic day of cross country action, spectacular show jumping and lots of fun! Tickets are available on the gate – but make sure you leave plenty of time to get in as the roads will be busy. The CIC*** show jumping gets the day started at 9:00am and the first rider heads out on the cross country (in the CCI***) at 9:30am.