A tight battle

Lordships Graffalo relishes the atmosphere to head up an all-British top eight after the first phase

- GEMMA STEVENS

IN a closely fought battle for the lead in the first phase, Ros Canter squeaked to the top with the wise-beyond-his-years Lordships Graffalo. Scoring 22.1 in the Saturday afternoon post-coronation break, Ros and “Walter” were the closest combination to the 80% barrier, with the judge at B, Andrew Bennie, awarding them 79.42%.

“He has been steadily improving all winter and it’s exciting to be able to show him at his best,” said Ros.

Although Ros and Walter didn’t manage to score a 10, the consistency of the 11-year old gelding’s work was a joy to watch, with no big mistakes.

“He just loves his work and the atmosphere,” said Ros. “If the crowd had stamped their feet, he’d have danced even more. That’s why he’s such a wonderful event horse.”

Oliver Townend had been the long-time leader with his first ride, Swallow Springs, but Kitty King put a stop to that when she entered the arena in increasingly soggy conditions just after 8.30am on Saturday with Vendredi Biats.

This impressive grey is so consistent in the first phase now – they led the dressage at Burghley in 2022 with 21.2 – and they scored 22.3 this time around to sit second.

Kitty’s scoresheet was littered with eights, and they pulled in nines for their smart rein-back and expressive flying changes, as well as a 10 for their beautiful halt at C.

“He was super. He couldn’t have gone any better,” exclaimed Kitty. “He’s great in sloppy ground and was having a great time splashing about in there. He stayed really with me and comes into his own at three-days – at one-days he can be a bit ‘normal’.”