10:49am Friday 7th July 2006
BARBURY CASTLES HORSE TRIALS: WOOTTON Bassett rider Sam Albert was hoping to put her Badminton disappointment behind her as the Maybach Barbury Castle CIC Three-Star International Horse Trials got underway today.
Albert, who runs a yard near Bassett and competes for Jamaica, had to withdraw her horse, Before I Do It, from the showpiece three-day event in Gloucestershire in May.
But she was aiming for better as the first two days of dressage got underway this morning, as she put the final touches to her preparations for the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, in August.
"This will hopefully be her big run before the World Games,'' said Albert.
"I feel like I have cracked the dressage, which is the area we needed to work on most."
Albert's breakthrough has been achieved with help from fellow Swindon competitor Rodney Powell, who will have his own powerful grey gelding Liquid Ice at the competition, and Alex Franklin, who also works with Powell.
In only its second year of running, the trials have attracted a record number of entries for a three-star event, joining the sport's Premier League', alongside other major championships such as Badminton and Burghley.
British team members including defending champion William Fox-Pitt on Tamarillo, Sharon Hunt and Tankerstown, Oliver Townend with Flint Curtis and Mary King (Call Again Cavalier) will face stiff opposition from other locally based international riders.
Australian Badminton winner and world no 1 Andrew Hoy, third and ninth on Master Monarch and Yeoman's Point last year, and New Zealander Andrew Nicholson (Fenicio) are among those competing.
Amy Tyron is flying in from the USA with two entries, while the Irish will also be out in force with Geoff Curran, Niall Ferguson, Ann Hatton and Philippa Mains all present.
Some of the country's top novices will also be taking part tomorrow, including Foxham 17-year-old Georgie Spence who, following her win at Chepstow recently, has been selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior European Championships in Northern Ireland in September.
Spence endured arduous weather conditions at the 2006 British Under 18 Championships at Chepstow to lift the title on her own Song For Gull.
Just a mile up the road lives Victoria Adderley, 16, who will be riding Malibu Beach in the same open novice section as Spence and is another of Britain's top young riders.
The event will also be a nailbiting time for young British riders (aged 19-21) who will be competing for a place on the team going to the Young Rider European Championships at Pardubice (August 4-6).
The shortlisted combinations will be doing their dressage in the main arena, followed by cross country over the novice track, finishing with show jumping at intermediate height.
The trials continue tomorrow and Sunday, with the three-star cross-country, over courses designed by Mark Phillips and finally showjumping.
"The three-star CIC course will be just as exciting with a few individual fence changes such as making the Quarry and the Sunken Road more horse-friendly and the re-routing of the finish through the main arena, which will bring spectators even closer to the action,'' said competition director, David Green.
"The Novice course will change direction and remain very much up to standard."
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