Ben and Julie Set the Standard at Bolesworth International
Thursday 16 June 2016
Yorkshireman Ben Raistrick launched the Bolesworth CSI **** International in winning fashion with a stylish victory as a packed Thursday schedule got under way.
Riding the consistently-successful Top Limit, Rastrick triumphed in the CSI Am-A two-phase class, sponsored by Halsall Electrical, making light work of a testing International Arena course.
Their time of 36.69 seconds proved more than a second clear of runner-up Ashlee Harrison with Beaufort III, while Kerstin Deakin and Sunsolde took third place.
"It was a really good start for me," Raistrick said. "He jumped really well. Everything flowed and was smooth.
"He has been there and done it previously, and he has done it again today. I have been riding him for the past year, and had good results at two-star level. He's a proper horse.
"That was my first time in the International Arena, and it was fantastic in there. This is a proper show."
The two-phase CSI Am-B class, sponsored by Aggreko, went to Julie Slade from Kent and the eight-year-old chestnut gelding Billy Gogo, owned by The Billy Stud.
They set a scorching pace in the two-phase class, posting a time of 27.40 seconds, and it proved way too quick for the rest, finishing more than five seconds clear of Belgium's Bruno Goyens de Heusch, riding Corella F, with Camila Bingham and Wembley in third.
"I had a plan when I went in there, and it all just came off," Slade said. "I was quite early to go, so I didn't quite know how quick the time would be, but everything came off.
"I've had him for a couple of years. He won three classes in Spain recently, and he is always in the prizes.
"He is very quick and agile, and you can just let him run along. He covers the ground quite nicely."
Action also began in Bolesworth's all-weather Castle Arena with a two-phase two-star opener, sponsored by John Deere, and it was Great Britain's Mark Armstrong who came out on top aboard Balougio III, clocking a time of 23.97 seconds for victory from second-placed Paul Barker (Sandors Legacy) and Irish challenger Kenneth Graham (Lenamore Lucy Lou) third.
