Four British falls, shades of 2005 and a leaderboard in turmoil: everything you need to know about Blenheim Europeans cross-country day
Well, cross-country day at the Agria Blenheim European Championships is over and the results are in. It was exciting, action-packed and, for British fans, slightly traumatic.
There were shades of 2005 with a British rider galloping through the rain to hold individual gold overnight but, sadly, falls for a number of home side competitors have taken a team medal off the table. Meanwhile Germany continue to hold the team gold – while behind them, the rest of the countries have shifted around. Read on for all the news…
Britain’s day got off to an unfortunate start when team pathfinder Yasmin Ingham fell.
Meanwhile trailblazers for the other teams had mixed fortunes.
British individual Caroline Harris also came to grief in the early part of the day.
And Britain’s day continued on a downward streak when second team rider Piggy March was eliminated.
Germany was holding firm and Switzerland was on the up in the second rotation of team riders.
Tom McEwen provided a bright spot for Britain with a fast round on JL Dublin.
Jérôme Robiné kept Germany’s hopes high in this part of the day, with the reliable Black Ice.
Fans found it hard to believe their eyes when a fourth British rider, Bubby Upton, fell.
But Britain’s day ended on a high when Laura Collett stormed round with the second fastest round of the day.
Michael Jung was the only rider who could go ahead of Laura in the Blenheim European Championships cross-country results, but in the end his slower round meant he slotted in behind her.
It wasn’t the Brits day today. But we still salute the work of all the British team, riders and backstage staff. Over the past two days, we’ve caught up with those grooms who are at their first championship.
The second horse inspection will get underway at 8am on Sunday morning, followed by the all-important showjumping phase to decide the final individual and team medals. The H&H reporting team will be here to bring you all the news as it happens.
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