Small Tour success for Baybutt and Lanning

Rebecca Baybutt and Sara-Jane Lanning took top honours at the British Dressage Small Tour Championships, which took place last weekend alongside Keysoe High Profile Show at The College Equestrian Centre in Bedfordshire (5 – 8 December 2019).

Following 12 qualifying rounds held through late summer and autumn, 18 combinations came forward to contend the Prix St Georges title and nine combinations for the Intermediate I, with the combined score of the PSG or Inter I with its respective freestyle determining the overall winner in each.

Rebecca Baybutt was the undisputed winner of the Prix St Georges title. The young rider from Merseyside piloted chestnut gelding Hey Mambo (by Medoc) - pictured above - to win Saturday’s first-round PSG and Sunday’s Freestyle, giving them an overall two-day total of 72.10%. A personal best of 75.25% for their Tom Hunt produced freestyle, featuring scores from Game of Thrones and Captain America, putting the icing on the cake of their very good year.

Amy Woodhead pupil Rebecca has ridden Michelle Swire’s 17 year old Hanoverian for the past three years, becoming a consistent Small Tour competitor during that time. This year, she and Mambo took the honours in the FEI Young Rider Championship at the BD Sheepgate Under 25s Championships in August. They were third in the Inter I at Manor Grange’s Area Festival Final, they won the Small Tour qualifier at Sheepgate and achieved two top-five places at Vale View High Profile Show in October.

Second place went to Devon-based Lucy Baker with Valerie Nock’s Thorougbred gelding, Voolra, whilst taking third spot was Hampshire rider Charlotte Blain and Donatella IV, a British-bred Don Schufro daughter owned by Jan Palmer.

List 1 Judge and BD Accredited Coach Sara-Jane Lanning repeated her 2017 Inter I victory, this time with Mi Amigo, her Danish bred son of Zardin Forfod. This fabulous partnership (pictured above) added a 76.63% Freestyle to their winning Inter I for the overall title, as well as claiming a PSG-Inter I double in Keysoe’s High Profile Show, which ran concurrently.

I still can’t quite believe we won all four of our classes! I love this quirky horse.

A delighted Sara-Jane took to Facebook to say, “An incredible weekend at Keysoe High Profile Show with Zoa. I still can’t quite believe we won all four of our classes! I love this quirky horse.”

He may now be 17 years old, but the good looking bay is low mileage having reached double figures before starting his serious competition career. First coming into the spotlight as a 12 year old, when he won the 2014 Novice Open Freestyle at the NAF Five Star Winter Championships, Mi Amigo has continued to add to his impressive competition record. Remarkably, he and Sara-Jane haven’t missed a Winter Championships or LeMieux National Championships since.

British Dressage thanks Simon Bates and the team at Keysoe for putting on a fantastic event. Congratulations to all those who competed at the Championships, in particular the winners.

Results – top three
Prix St Georges Championship
1. Rebecca Baybutt and Hey Mambo – (PSG 68.95%, PSG FS 75.25%) - 72.10% combined
2. Lucy Baker and Voolra – (67.85%, 71.50%) - 69.68%
3. Charlotte Blain and Donatella IV – (65.13%, 71.63%) - 68.38%

Intermediate I Championship
1. Sara-Jane Lanning and Mi Amigo – (Inter I 69.74%, Inter I FS 76.63%) - 73.18% combined
2. Shelley Reeve-Smith and Sinderella – (67.85%, 70.63%) - 69.24%
3. Kimberley Seaby and Razzle Dazzle – (64.78%, 69.75%) - 67.27%

Full results

Photo © Tanja Davis for Kevin Sparrow