Townend showcases another rising star

The Burghley winner follows up at Blenheim with an exceptional” Irish-bred mare and Piggy March has a round to remember

TWO weeks after his Burghley win with the great Ballaghmor Class, Oliver Townend showed that he has another rising star grey in his string by taking victory in the young horse CCI4*-S with the stunning mare Cooley Rosalent.

The pair headed into the cross-country with a onesecond advantage over Piggy March and Brookfield Future News. They would be the only two combinations to make the cross-country time, turning those provisional places into their final standings.

This eight- and nineyear-old class has a history of serving as a stepping stone to five-star greatness. Oxford a fitting venue, then, to hold the championship for these bright stars of the future. Analytics firm EquiRatings has counted 23 graduates who have gone on to win a five-star, including five former winners of this class.

Paul Ridgeon’s grey looked full of confidence as she devoured David Evans’s crosscountry track, ears pinned forward, crossing the finish line smack on the optimum time of 6min 54sec to win on her dressage score of 24.7.

“We’ve always thought she was exceptional,” said Oliver, who has had the mare since she was four years old and credited Richard Sheane and Georgina Philips at Cooley Farm for “finding another one for us”.

“I’ve been lucky enough to produce her. But in all honesty, most people could have produced her, because she’s very straightforward, exceptionally talented and finds everything very easy.”

The nine-year-old mare, by Valent, is out of thoroughbred race mare Bellaney Jewel and is a full sibling to Irish rider Clare Abbott’s 2021 eventing Europeans ride Jewelent. Both were bred by the Rosbothams in Ireland.

“SECOND TO NONE”