Lily Attwood and Katie Speller are winners in the United Arab Emirates
Monday 23 December 2024
Lily Attwood and Katie Speller were on winning form Al Ain CSI3*, United Arab Emirates, to score a victory apiece.
Lily jumped to the top of the 3* 1.45m with Karibou Horta. Forty-two competitors came forward in this two-phase class with Lily using her draw in the latter half to emerge triumphant on her mother Emmy Freeman-Attwood’s Landor S x For Pleasure 14-year-old with 1.22 seconds to spare.
“The course walked nicely, however, we didn’t think there would be many clears and in the end, there was only four – even less than we anticipated!” said Lily. “‘Horton’ is naturally a very quick horse and before I went in, there was only one clear round, so I was focused on keeping the fences up but still be fluent and take advantage of his natural speed. It wasn’t a class to go really fast but luckily, I got my first stride everywhere, just didn’t take all the risks. He’s been jumping amazingly here and has been knocking on the door, it was nice to get a win and puts us in good spirits for the next couple of months.”
Lily has been out in the UAE for the past month alongside boyfriend Constant van Paesschen.
“We’re really enjoying it! The climate is wonderful and the horses feel and look amazing. We’re based at Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club and the facilities are incredible to work in and for the horses,” added Lily, who will stay here until the end of February.
For the second consecutive week, Katie Speller and BE Golden Lynx jumped to victory in the Six-Bar. Fourteen riders tackled the grid line of verticals, raised in every round. Four competitors were left for the fourth and final round, but Katie with Breen Equestrian and Tracy Forrest’s Golden Hawk x Lux Z eight-year-old were the sole partnership to provide a clean round for an outright win.
Katie finished just off the podium in the early 3* 1.45m and qualifier for the feature World Cup leg to take fourth on BE Alcantara. A sizeable entry of 75 contended this 12-fence, 15 effort speed – with riders negotiating three doubles – Katie and the young eight-year-old mare (Colmar x Contact Me) finishing 3.51 seconds off the pace for fourth spot.
Image credit: Nour Al Masri
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