News
Preview: Keysoe High Profile and Small Tour Champs
- Written By: British Dressage
- Published: Tue, 03 Dec 2019 16:55
The final High Profile Show of 2019 gets underway this week at Keysoe EC (5 – 8 December 2019) with many of the UK’s top riders heading to the Bedfordshire venue. Classes at all levels up to Grand Prix and FEI tests for Pony riders and Children on Horses, plus the 2019 Small Tour Championships, have attracted a wealth of talented competitors.
Sonnar Murray-Brown and Erlentanz (pictured) will be ones to watch in Thursday’s Grand Prix. Sonnar has been out of action for several months with a broken leg, but with caretaker rider Charlotte Dujardin, Erlentanz has had an incredible summer with a double victory at Windsor CDI3* and two top-three placings at Aachen CHIO. Sonnar has hit the ground running since injury, enjoying a winning trip to Hartpury last month where he achieved a 74%-plus Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix features Germany’s Claudia Dörn and her 15 year old Danish gelding Bohemo Tinto, a former ride of Emile Faurie; Anna Ross with her own and Beverley Brown’s Delgado (by Uphill) who were third at Vale View High Profile last month; Daniel Watson with Barbara Marceau’s Aster Butterfly IV, a mare in her first year at Grand Prix, and his 2016 Aachen CHIO partner Amadeus VI, owned by Nicola Naylor.
Sussex-based Dane, Anders Dahl, contests the Grand Prix too, with his wife Fiona Bigwood’s Fidelio Van Het Bloemenhof (by Fidermark). In fact, Keysoe will be quite a family affair for the Dahls as Fiona and Anders’ daughter Mette will be competing in the U21 FEI classes – the Pony divisions with George Clooney BS and Children on Horses with her father’s Rio Olympic Games ride, Selten HW. Gareth and Rebecca Hughes’ daughter Ruby, also contests the Children on Horses, with Jessica Shaw’s gelding, Arnage Wasabi.
2019 FEI Young Rider European Championship team members Rebecca Bell and Rebecca Swain will be competing Small Tour with their respective rides, Nibeley Union Hit and Bon Jovi, whilst the Pony classes include 2019 British team combination Isobel Lickley and Mister Snowman, flanked by a host of up-and-coming riders
The 2019 Small Tour Championships boasts a quality field. The PSG, which commences Saturday afternoon at 15.37, and the Inter I starting at 18.30, get the competition underway before the finalists take to the floor on Sunday for their respective freestyles. Starting at 14.15 and with the last to go at 17.52, the day is an excellent chance to see many of Britain’s best Small Tour combinations in action.
With classes over four days, the show offers top class dressage and free entry to spectators, as well as the welcoming facilities at Keysoe including the Keysoe Boutique and café. It’s well worth a trip to Bedfordshire take a look at the combinations on the rise towards 2020.
Photo © Kevin Sparrow
