A chilly start to Friday but the sunshine was a very welcome sight and the bitter wind of yesterday had dropped considerably which was appreciated by all.
Jonelle and Faerie Good Golly were one of the early ones into the showjumping arena and it has a truly international feel about it as it is set up on two levels which is another layer of technicality for the young horses to deal with. Golly is nothing if not quick and nimble and she popped around with a lovely clear adding just 0.4 for one second over time. They set out on the cross country at a good pace and Golly tackled her biggest track to date with gusto. Jonelle gave her a great ride and held her hand in a couple of spots where Golly wasn’t quite sure of the route and together they looked like a solid partnership and crossed the line with just 5.2 time.
Faerie Usain (Maude) just tipped a rail in her showjumping round but didn’t pick up any time faults. She has a big stride and looked very assured around the 2*Short cross country throwing in some bold jumps and answering all the questions, adding just 3.6 time to her tally for the two days. It’s just Jonelle’s third run with her and she commented that “Maude and I may even become friends!” although added that Maude may not be quite so sure about that yet!
Both the mares finished well outside the placings but they ticked the all important FEI MER (Minimum Eligibility Requirement) and that is a super way to near the end of their 2024 season. Tim and the more experienced The Highlander (Ivar) was in the lead after the showjumping with a very classy clear round in his 2*Short section so he made it a treble at Cornbury by Friday morning when he and Ivar simply cruised around the course ( including an enormous jump over the Otter into the water which slightly took Tim by surprise!) to make time and take the win. More Hawkstone beer to be shipped back to Chedington! And a superb way for Ivar to wrap up his 2024 season and head to the paddock for a holiday.
Tim also did a super test on Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) for a 26.4 which held the lead for most of the day in that 2 star section but was just pipped into second place by a single point late on Friday afternoon. Louis cops the drawn out cross country tomorrow and showjumping on Sunday section but such is the popularity of Cornbury it was the only way we could get him a run.
Jonelle has had a pretty miserable run of late and no one would be harder on herself than Jonelle. She just had Full Monty de Lacense (FM) in the intermediate this afternoon and although FM hasn’t been outside the top 11 all season his best placing has been 5th. In the afternoon sunshine FM hacked up to the top arenas through the deer park and exuded confidence with a 22 to take a convincing win on the flat in his section. He led Emily King by just 3.9 points and sauntered down to the showjumping feeling pretty cool. FM then added a rail to his score which was not at all unusual in either of the two intermediate sections and he was now going to have to work harder cross country for the win than he had anticipated.
No doubt in Jonelle’s mind that she was going to make the most of her last run with FM before the 8/9 year olds at Blenheim at FM’s first 4 star next week. Also, anyone that knows Jonelle and Tim know that the competitive spirit runs true between them and with Tim sitting on three wins already this weekend she had something to prove. And they did just that, galloped around for just 2 seconds over the time to take the win halfway through the class and how good it was to see Jonelle smiling as she crossed the line and FM stepping up not only to his first win this year but also taking him out of intermediate points and into advanced points which is always pretty cool! They head to Blenheim full of confidence and they can add their own haul of Hawkstone Beer to the pallet heading South!
Unfortunately for Tim there were no more opportunities to win today as we had to enter Happy Boy and Global Quest (George) Hor Concors in the intermediate section simply to get a run as no rider was allowed to go cross country more than three times on Thursday and Friday. Frustrating when Happy did a 21.8 and George a 22.1 in their respective sections! Although for context the judges would be blown away by these two 4 star winners in a field of genuine intermediate horses. They both jumped immaculate clears over the poles and George headed out first cross country, simply eating up the terrain and the track for a confident round with Tim adding some 5 time penalties to their tally. It’s just their second run together but they look very much a unit which is unsurprising with Tim’s unique horsemanship skills.
Tim and Happy have been acquainted since Happy was 4 and they have wins at every level under their belt. The last 18 months have been pretty frustrating at the top level but Happy looked to be on great form again right up until the last influential combination where Happy decided to duck out at the second element. It’s not unheard of for Happy, he is the original chancer but when he did it a second time he went from chancer to proper cheeky brat. It certainly won’t be the first time Tim and Happy have headed into a big one with an error on their card from their last run!
Jonelle heads home tonight whilst Tim has one more opportunity to take another win at Cornbury with Louis over the weekend. There is a leading rider prize to boot and I am sure that Tim has his eyes set on more Hawkstone to add to his haul. Might as well make the most of a purple patch!