Osberton’s KBIS British Eventing Young Horse four-, five-, six- and seven-year-old championships look set to be as hotly contested as ever, as do the straight one and two star competitions.
The Young Horse Championships have gone from strength to strength and numerous notable ‘Osberton graduates’ have achieved success, including British squad representatives Billy The Biz and Ceylor LAN (Rio 2016), and Billy The Red, Bulana and Allstar B (gold medal winners, Strzegom 2017). Ireland’s Rio contestants Cooley Rorkes Drift and Jemilla are also Osberton graduates.
The seven-year-old championship entries include last year’s six-year-old winner Sankro, this year piloted by Austin O’Connor, husband of 2016 jockey Amy. Chilli Knight, the progeny of William Fox-Pitt’s Badminton winner Chilli Morning, who has two intermediate victories on his card with Gemma Tattersall, is also entered. The pair has Osberton experience, having finished eighth in the six-year-old class 12 months ago.
Others to watch are Sir Papillon, third in the six-year-olds last year with Laura Collett and an intermediate winner last time out, and Osberton first timer Menlo Park, who has two one star wins on his card this year and is ridden by Land Rover Burghley champion Oliver Townend.
Alex Postolowsky returns to Osberton with last year’s five-year-old winner Grappa Nera. Judy Bradwall’s daughter of Karandasj has only finished outside the top 10 twice this season. Also on form is Izzy Taylor’s ride Monkeying Around who has posted five wins and a CCI1* runner up spot out of eight runs in 2017.
Piggy French has made an emphatic return to competition after a year off, with a string of top results, most notably runner up at Land Rover Burghley a couple of weeks ago. She has a strong contender in the shape of Belinda & David Keir’s AKD Corline, who won the four-year-old championship back in 2015.
Another past winner to return this year is the 2016 four-year-old victor Monbeg Odyssey. Ridden by Georgie Strang the pair have four top six finishes including a win this season. Chabadu, a ride of European individual bronze medallist Nicola Wilson, could also excel, with four wins to his name this year.
Predicting success in this class is always hard, the horses having little track record, however Just Soda No Ice, ridden by Ginny Turnbull could do well, as could Piggy French’s Irresistible.
With riders representing seventeen nations, including three members of the British gold medal winning European Championship team, and just shy of 500 horses entered for the eventing classes, BEDE Events 100th affiliated event looks set to showcase the best young event horses of their generation.
For more information about Osberton International Horse Trials, visit the website.