Brown Takes Out Puhinui

Cambridge’s Lizzie Brown won the Auckland Council CCI3* class at the Puhinui Three-day Horse Trials on Henton Attorney General, having led from the start, to move to the top of the Bell Tea Super League at the halfway stage of the series.

Brown scored 46.2 dressage penalties, and jumped a clear cross-country round inside the optimum time, to go into Sunday’s showjumping phase with three rails in hand. She had one rail down to win comfortably on a score of 50.2.

Lying second overnight, Jock Paget, Muriwai, had a showjumping round he’d rather forget with Frances Stead’s Clifton Piunot, dropping to fourth place on a score of 83.8. This allowed Brent Jury, the farrier from Cust, who was the only other rider to go inside the time across country on SE Big, to move into second place with one rail down for a final score of 64.8.

Fellow Cantabrian Emily Butcher filled third place with Southern Ben despite three rails down, finishing on 73.4. Eight of the eleven starters finished the event, which was run in hot conditions on hard ground, to wind up the spring eventing season.

BELL TEA SUPER LEAGUE
Standings after 5 events: L.Brown, Henton Attorney General, 97.5 pts; B.Jury, SE Big, 95 pts; E.Butcher, Southern Ben, 85 pts; L.Brown, Push Play, 43.5 pts; C.Johnstone, Incognito, 39 pts; H.Tompkins, Strike Three, 37 pts.

Virginia Caro

Photo thanks to Barbara Thomson