05/10/2009 09:54:00

Halliday takes another win for 2009

Liz Halliday took her third win of the 2009 eventing season and registered four other top-ten finishes last week during a busy few days of competition.

The California-born dual sportswoman contested the South of England and Berkshire College Horse Trials with five different horses from her new training complex in East Sussex, UK.

Her victory came in the Pre-Novice category at Berkshire College with a horse she had never competed before, Wonder II. A score of 31 placed Liz just outside the top three after Dressage but double-clear rounds in the Show Jumping and Cross Country tests secured victory in the 39-strong field.

Halliday also rode Vincenzo for the first time in the same event in the Open Pre-Novice category and finished fourth. A stunning score of 23.5 in the Dressage was good enough for second, although a single rail down in the Show Jumping before a clear Cross Country left Liz just outside the top three.

Both results were best-ever eventing finishes for the young horses: “Literally the first time I sat on Vincenzo was four days before the event,” said Liz, “and I’ve only worked with Wonder for a couple of weeks. To get such strong results is obviously a very satisfying start and I think it shows what potential these horses have for the future. There is still much more to come from them both as they are still young and fairly inexperienced, and I’m looking forward to working with both of them for as long I have them on my yard. They are both for sale and I am sure they will very nice event horses for just about anyone."

Newby (All Inclusive) and Billy (Baldaghade) also competed at Berkshire College in the Novice category collecting top ten finishes in seventh and ninth respectively.

Three days before, both had also taken part in the prestigious South of England Horse Trials.

In what was only Newby’s second Novice-level event, Halliday guided the young horse to a fine third place finish in a busy section. A score of 31 in the Dressage was an excellent start and only a handful of Cross Country time faults prevented a win after a double-clear round.

Billy finished 15th when a run out during the Cross Country test proved costly following what should have been a win after a leading Dressage score of 27.5 and a clear Show Jumping round.

"I knew that I was in the lead going into Cross Country," said Liz "and I think I just got Billy going a bit too quickly and he didn't understand when I took a sharp line to a narrow fence. It is disappointing to not get the win, but he went really well a couple days later at Berkshire College so I think the mistake is well and truly behind us now."

Fox (Red Letter Day II) also continued his return to competition and showed considerable improvement after looking a little rusty at Highclere last month. He posted a strong Dressage score, had one rail down in the Show Jumping and was clear on Cross Country, albeit with a handful of time faults.

“I was pleased with his Dressage and one rail down in the Show Jumping was certainly an improvement,” said Halliday. “I went quite steadily round the Cross Country course as I was mindful that it was only his second event of the year, and he was a little bit wild, but definitely very happy to be out there! It was nice to get a good positive run on him and I am looking forward to the next one.”