One of the first riders into the arena this morning for the BE100, twenty-one year old Emily Dinnis (pictured above), set the standard with a score of 27.6 penalties on board her own nine year old gelding Disert Joe. The lunch break came and went for the Cornish combination – who finished in 13th place in the BE90 in 2016 – and no one could get near their impressive score. However 2016 BE90 winner Sophie Walker (23, Shropshire) and Rhapsody RFW set themselves up for another winning result posting the same score as Dinnis to sit in joint first place.
Suffolk’s Isabella Stagg and her self-confessed ‘high maintenance’ mare Quite A Compliment proved to be on side today to finish day one in the top three with a score of 27.8 penalties. Fourth place going into day two is currently occupied by Oxfordshire’s Caroline Hawkins and Mrs Amanda Bacon’s ten year old gelding Kilbawn Lad on a score of 27.9 penalties with Kathy Staples, from Surrey, and Zoe Warren’s Ideal Foxs Castle completing the top five with a penalty score of 28.9.
A hotly contested BE90 class sees just 1.4 penalties separating the top five with 13 year old Anna Martin (below) holding on to her early dressage lead on her own 10 year old mare Sannanvalley Classic. The East Sussex rider moves into the show jumping on a score of 28.1 penalties for a 0.3 penalty advantage over second placed Emily Atkins. The 15 year old from Kent and her own nine year old gelding Classiebawn Trooper scored 28.4 penalties as barely a whisker separates them from third placed Sarah Roberts (43, from Cheshire) and her own Cartier VD Ruitershoeve who posted 28.5 penalties.
