Tracy Priest and Caristo VDL take the top spot in the Devon County Show leg of the International Stairway
Monday 22 May 2017
The second leg of this year’s International Stairway took place on Friday at Devon County Show with Tracy Priest taking home the title on board Penelope Priest’s 10 year-old grey gelding, Caristo VDL.
As one of only four clears in the first round, Tracy, who is based in Cranleigh in Surrey, showed her talent as she marched into first place with a consistent double clear. Taking the time to be as accurate as possible around what proved to be a challenging course, Tracy posted a great result, coming through the finish line with all the fences still standing in 51.14 seconds.
Emma Slater and Art D Usance owned by Mark Haines took second place after posting the only other double clear of the class. This partnership crossed the finish just a fraction of a second behind Tracy, posting a time of 52.96 seconds. Third was secured by Sammie Coffin riding Elizabeth Robson’s Bellamy II. This pair had a pole down at the final fence of their jump off round to post a 4 fault score in 47.57 seconds.
The International Stairway takes place across a number of county shows where winning combinations accrue League Points that count towards the Final which takes place at the British Showjumping National Championships in August at Stoneleigh Park. The series culminates with a high profile championships where three Horse of the Year Show International Wild Cards are allocated as well as it being where the sports National Champion is crowned.
