Denver dominates the day

Holly Smith tops a huge field of class competitors to claim pole position, and Sienna Charles takes first ahead of one of the sport’s biggest names

- SARAH RADFORD

Vejer De La Frontera CSI2*, Spain

HOLLY SMITH and Denver were at the top of their game to take a searingly competitive 18-strong jump-offf or the end-of-tour grand prix, a 1.50m Tokyo qualifier.

“It was a two-star, but the level of the field was more like a five-star,” Holly said. “There are so many good riders here, it’s a job just to qualify for the grand prix.”

Jumping from penultimate draw, the 12-year-old ex-eventer was at his athletic best to switch fluidly from a ground-eating stride to neat and well-executed turnbacks.

Their masterful performance axed 2.49sec from the lead of on-form Germans David Will and C Vier 2, with Ireland’s Denis Lynch and Cristello collecting third place.

“He’s a very adjustable horse,” Holly said. “Like most jump-offs nowadays, it’s all about stride patterns, even on the longer runs.

We won it on the run to the double where most people did 11, 12 or more strides; we made it on 10.

“It was a difficult line to the double with a tall vertical going in, but his eventing experience means he doesn’t worry about the angle he’s coming in on, he just stays focused.”

Ian Dowie’s Albfuehren’s Memphis x Chico’s Boy gelding was due a win as he had been unlucky to tip a rail in the jump off of the preceding week’s grand prix in Vilamoura, where his time had been “there or thereabouts”. He had also just added an unfortunate four faults in Saturday’s (28 November) Nations Cup, producing the strongest performance of the British squad.

The team contest had been postponed from Friday due to torrential rain, and it was not a lucky day for the British, who finished 16th out of 17 teams.