BREAKING NEWS: Brits dominating Barcelona CDI3*

Competition has kicked off on the Continent in Spain for the first week of Barcelona’s CDI3* (17 – 22 Mar 2015) and, already, Britain is taking the Spanish competition by storm.

For Michael Eilberg and his partner, Alison Walton and Ferdi Eilberg’s nine year old British-bred mare, Woodlander Farouche, it was a unanimous decision for all five judges to push the pair to the top of the leader board in the PSG. Their first international competition since their victory at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Germany in 2011 and 2012, it was a score of 75.68% that claimed first place for the dynamic duo.

Third place went to sister, Maria Eilberg with her own, Hermione Black and Penny Pollard’s 12-year-old Oldenberg gelding, Royal Concert (pictured). Scoring an international personal best of 71.26%, the pair narrowly missed out on making the PSG an Eilberg 1-2 by just 0.02%. Louise Bell, who is trained by Michael Eilberg, also claimed a personal best score with her own nine year old British-bred gelding, Into the Blue. Scoring a solid 68.97%, the pair placed eighth just in front of fellow Brit, Rebecca Edwards and Margaret Cox’s 14-year-old Portuguese stallion, Ufano II who scored 68.89% for ninth.

Rebecca’s second ride, Margaret Cox and Leigh Edwards 11-year-old Dimaggio gelding, Don Archie topped the table in the young rider team test. In just their second competition as a combination, and first ever international for the bay gelding, they scored a strong 68.99%.

Finishing the second day of competition was Hayley Watson-Greaves in the grand prix. Riding her own 11-year-old gelding, WG Rubins Nite – who is also British-bred – the pair gained their best score in an international competition at grand prix with 68.58% to take second.

Competition continues today with Louise Bell and Maria Eilberg in the inter I, plus Michael Eilberg and Fiona Bigwood in the grand prix (qualifier for the grand prix special). Keep up to date on the latest happenings via the Barcelona website.

Results

Class 2: PSG

1^st– Michael Eilberg with Woodlander Farouche (GBR), 75.68%

3^rd– Maria Eilberg with Royal Concert (GBR), 71.26%

8^th– Louise Bell with Into the Blue (GBR), 68.97%

9^th– Rebecca Edwards with Ufano II (GBR), 68.89%

Class 6: Young rider team test

1^st– Rebecca Edwards with Don Archie (GBR), 68.99%

Class 9: Grand prix (qualifier for the grand prix freestyle)

2^nd– Hayley Watson-Greaves with WG Rubins Nite (GBR), 68.58%