No problems at the jog for Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) and in fact all of the horses that completed the cross country yesterday trotted up looking really good. Quite the wait as the 3*L horses jumped first and then it was finally time for the 5 star to reach its conclusion.
Just 4 horses out of the remaining 13 jumped clear in time and Jonelle and Ollie were one of them. It was a really cool round, Ollie jumped superbly and Jonelle gave him a great ride. They cantered through the finish flags with Jonelle looking absolutely delighted as well she might be, finishing 9th with a clear round jumping at Ollie’s first 5 star is quite the feat.
It was a really tough 5 star as well and Ollie is most definitely deserving of his winter holiday when he gets home. The horses will fly back to Liege in Belgium and then travel across the Channel to England and by the end of this week Ollie should be happily munching grass all day.
Not quite the fairy tale end for Monica Spencer and Artist (Max) as they dropped two rails to finish second but another of those to jump a clear round, albeit with a few seconds time, was Tayla Mason with Centennial (Chase) which was a great way for her Maryland campaign to finish.
Meanwhile Jonelle will fly to Madrid overnight and then catch a flight down to Pau to join her next three five star rides. The end is nearly in sight but it’s going to be a madly busy week ahead!
