Horse_amp_amp_Hound__06_February_2018
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Edited by Jennifer Donald<br />
jennifer.donald@timeinc.com<br />
@ donaldjdonald<br />
The long journey from Cornwall pays off for Adam Ellery and eightyear-old<br />
Fairway, who headed the Blue Chip Karma performance<br />
never lets me down. I’m normally<br />
busy with our tack stand, Williams<br />
Equestrian, so we don’t get out<br />
that often, but she comes out and<br />
does her job every time. I’m not<br />
usually that brave, but she’s such<br />
an honest mare, I thought we’d<br />
have a real go,” said Sarah.<br />
The long journey from<br />
Cornwall proved worthwhile for<br />
Adam Ellery, who proved a force<br />
to be reckoned with over this<br />
four-day meeting.<br />
Good preparation with<br />
Fairway (Fai) paid rich dividends<br />
for Adam as Darren Jueleff’s<br />
eight-year-old mare pulled off<br />
a brilliant spin-back to a tall<br />
upright to win the Blue Chip<br />
Karma performance.<br />
Drawn fairly early in the<br />
77-starter Karma qualifier, Adam<br />
signalled his intentions from the<br />
start with a quick scurry through<br />
the beams and Fai hugged the<br />
wings throughout.<br />
“I only started riding her in<br />
winter and, after concentrating<br />
on getting our newcomers and<br />
Foxhunter double clears, we have<br />
been building up confidence doing<br />
the odd turn.<br />
“This was a tough class to win,<br />
but she is getting quicker with<br />
every outing,” said Adam, who<br />
owns a share of the daughter of<br />
Baldwin and enjoyed a lucrative<br />
first visit to Aintree.<br />
“This is the furthest north<br />
I have ever travelled to compete<br />
and we have really enjoyed the<br />
show,” said Adam.<br />
Having his first outing of the<br />
year, Quality Old Joker scored<br />
a brilliant win for Holly Smith in<br />
a fiercely contested 1.40m.<br />
After going the full five<br />
rounds to share first place in the<br />
Liverpool International puissance,<br />
the Irish son of OBOS Quality had<br />
enjoyed some lazy days hacking,<br />
but he soon returned to winning<br />
form and curled his massive frame<br />
around to the wings to post a time<br />
even the best efforts of reunited<br />
Kerry Brennan and Wellington M<br />
could not match.<br />
“He loves a challenge. We’ve<br />
done nothing since Liverpool, but<br />
he’s better fresh,” said Holly. “The<br />
turns were tight, but he never<br />
tries to second-guess me and<br />
everything came off,”<br />
As fast finishes go, Paul Barker<br />
provided two of the speediest<br />
riding Cartouche II (Pogo), whose<br />
ground-devouring stride and<br />
spin-back turns came into play<br />
in the 1.30m classes on days one<br />
and four.<br />
These were among some of the<br />
most competitive classes of this<br />
meeting and Paul employed some<br />
daring tactics to finish ahead of<br />
some speedy combinations.<br />
Pogo is normally ridden by<br />
Paul’s niece Hannah Barker in<br />
young rider and children-onhorses<br />
competitions, but while she<br />
Sarah Williams and Calvaro win<br />
the BS winter amateur qualifier<br />
FRUSELLI<br />
HOLLY SMITH headed<br />
the Blue Chip Dynamic<br />
B&C qualifier with<br />
Gordon and Sue<br />
Hall’s Fruselli.<br />
Second-placed Jessica Crosby and Harvey scurried<br />
round to set a real uphill challenge, but penultimate-drawn Holly<br />
sliced the merest fraction off the leading time.<br />
“It was a last-minute decision to come here, but as we were<br />
both bored at home and bursting with life, we decided to have some<br />
action,” said Holly, who first tried the impressive stallion at South<br />
View last summer following a tip-off.<br />
The Zambesi eight-year-old stallion was bred by Mark Evans and<br />
Amanda Forster at Castell Sport <strong>Horse</strong>s and was first ridden by<br />
Amanda. In just a few months, Fruselli progressed from Foxhunter<br />
level to jump two rankings classes at Liverpool and he ended on a<br />
high note here, producing two clears to finish third in the grand prix.<br />
“He’s not a horse to turn up short, so we’ve been practising<br />
keeping our turns smooth and taking fewer strides —<br />
ONE TO<br />
WATCH<br />
is concentrating on ponies, Paul<br />
keeps the 15-year-old ticking over.<br />
“As I had a few horses in these<br />
classes, I didn’t manage to watch<br />
the leading rounds. Pogo covers<br />
a lot of ground; he turns well and<br />
it felt easy for him,” said Paul, who<br />
beat next-placed Ben Walker on<br />
Native Warrior and Keith Shore<br />
with Coriander.<br />
Ben Walker, who is based<br />
with Pennie Cornish and Phillip<br />
Miller, gained a winning double<br />
at the upper height classes riding<br />
Roulette H and Victory VI.<br />
Roulette H, a nine-year-old<br />
bred by Lancashire dealer Downes<br />
Howard, is by the showjumping<br />
stallion Moschino and has been<br />
with the Pennie Cornish stable<br />
for the past five years. He stepped<br />
up to area trials and 1.45m<br />
competitions last season.<br />
“He likes to jump the bigger<br />
RESULTS<br />
he’s getting an expert at it now,” said Holly, who was due<br />
to have the plates removed from her right leg (injured<br />
early last year) just two days after this show, before<br />
competing on the Sunshine Tour.<br />
25 Jan: KBIS Insurance British novi—1&<br />
2, Richious & MEC Look At Me (A Tough); 3,<br />
Urban Splash (N Roe). 90cm.— 1 & 2, Urano<br />
III & Starlux (N Roe). Nupafeed discovery.— 1,<br />
Pandoras Box (B Smart); 2, Call Me What You<br />
Want (K Shore); 3, Running Gingerbread Man<br />
(A Walters). 1m.— 1, CSH Starlet (J Holding);<br />
2, Cor De Crykon (E Hope). Connolly’s Red<br />
Mills newcomers.—1, Ebrusa (G Azevedo-<br />
Silva); 2, Gassara (E Forrester); 3, Harlequin<br />
Vivendi (A Walters). 1.10m.— 1, B Valeree (R<br />
Connor); 2, Jupistar Van’t Langbos (K Shore);<br />
3, Grass (G Billington). Equitop Myoplast<br />
Foxhunter.— 1, Icon III (E Williams); 2, Harvey<br />
(J Crosby); 3, Quality Street (C Bolam).<br />
1.25m.— 1, Fantastic (R Connor); 2, Elo (G<br />
Billington); 3, Flintstone De Ness (L Smith).<br />
AW Jenkinson Natural Flake 1.35m.—1&2,<br />
Cruising Star & Electra B (R Howley); 3, Zaha<br />
(R Connor). 26 Jan: Connolly’s Red Mills<br />
newcomers.—1, Jeppsen K (C Arnold); 2,<br />
Gassara; 3, Footloose LG (C Smith). Equitop<br />
Myoplast Foxhunter.— 1, Blue Pilot (J<br />
Elliott); 2, Fairway (A Ellery); 3, Peppercorn (T<br />
Whitaker). 1.20m.— 1,Contessa M (S Buckley);<br />
2, El Diablo Grande (C Shepherd-Bramham); 3,<br />
Cartouche (P Barker). nat 1.30m.— 1, 2 & 3eq,<br />
Cartouche, Lux Fabulous & Sandors Legacy<br />
stuff and, as we are going to the<br />
Sunshine Tour hoping to find<br />
Nations Cup form, this was the<br />
ideal preparation for him,” said<br />
Ben. “This was a fast class and<br />
we had to find somewhere to save<br />
time, so while most riders steered<br />
around the Christmas tree island,<br />
I knew he would probably spook<br />
at it, so I went for a nice drop and<br />
turn inside to the next vertical. It<br />
was tight, but it paid off.”<br />
Ben’s second victory came<br />
courtesy of Victory VI, who<br />
maintained a relentless pace<br />
to record a 1.30m win on the<br />
following day.<br />
“He can be quirky and he was<br />
naughty yesterday, but at least he’s<br />
redeemed himself with a round<br />
like this,” said Ben.<br />
“He’s economical in the air and<br />
has a big stride, which makes him<br />
a good indoor speed horse.” H&H<br />
(P Barker); 3eq, Billy Starlet (E O’Dwyer). AW<br />
Jenkinson nati 1.40m.— 1, Roulette H (B<br />
Walker); 2, Ubank (A Ellery); 3, Wellington M<br />
(K Brennan). 27 Jan: Connolly’s Red Mills<br />
newcomers.— 1, Tinkabella (B Vernon); 2,<br />
Mount Pleasant Lily (D Coogan); 3, Flemenco<br />
T (S Stockdale). 1.15m.— 1, B Valeree (R<br />
Connor); 2, Drewmain Dark Star (A Ellery);<br />
3, Capriool III (C Bolam). Blue Chip Karma<br />
performance.— 1, Fairway; 2, Courageux<br />
(C West); 3, Footloose LG (C Smith). nat<br />
1.30m.— 1, Victory VI (B Walker); 2, Divedent<br />
SB (C Arnhold); 3, Darcobal Fravanca (J<br />
McGlory). Blue Chip Dynamic B&C.—1,<br />
Fruselli (H Smith); 2, Harvey (J Crosby); 3,<br />
Django Blue (J Elliott). AW Jenkinson nat<br />
1.40m.— 1, Quality Old Joker (H Smith); 2,<br />
Wellington M; 3, Waldemar (C Pritchard). 28<br />
Jan: Connolly’s Red Mills newcomers.—1,<br />
Ebrusa; 2, E Papa FM (B Mitchell); 3, Highclass<br />
B (C Bolam). 1.10m.— 1, Lester Van T Laahof<br />
(E O’Dwyer); 2, Classic Raphael (K Sutcliffe);<br />
3, Cassius XI (M Prenty). BS winter amateur<br />
Q.— 1, Calvaro Star (S Williams); 2, Culto (R<br />
Jenkinson); 3, Nonstop III (S Sellars). Equitop<br />
Myoplast Foxhunter.— 1, Quality Street (C<br />
Bolam); 2, Ulisina II (A Tough); 3, Hermionie<br />
II (Z Beesley). nat 1.30m.— 1, Cartouche; 2,<br />
Native Warrior (B Walker); 3, Coriander Van’t<br />
Vennehof (K Shore). National 1.40m/AW<br />
Jenkinson Natural Flake grand prix.—1,<br />
Electra B; 2, Ayrton IV (J Andrews); 3, Fruselli.<br />
8 <strong>February</strong> <strong>2018</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> & <strong>Hound</strong> 57