Katy Lawrence and Cheyenne Balloon (pictured above) were left celebrating a narrow victory at the LeMieux Badminton Grassroots Championships, securing the top spot in the BE100 by 0.2 of a penalty from wildcard entrants Maisie Morgan and Bright Rinco.
“This victory feels so surreal right now, but it’s a massive dream come true. I’m thrilled to pieces. This is what dreams are made of. A result like this makes all the hard winter days worthwhile,” said Katy.
It was a first appearance at Badminton for Katy and the 14-year-old British-bred mare who qualified at Blindley Heath — which is just around the corner from where they live in Surrey — last summer.
“She is a quirky character, but when she tries, she really tries. I’m very lucky and we seem to have a very good partnership,” added Katy.
“I have to be very vocal with her and talk to her lots and try and keep her calm but she was magic today. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Feeling apprehensive
Katy confessed that she walked the cross-country course four times in total.
“Every time I walked it again, I thought it looked a little bit bigger so I was apprehensive,” she said.
“It had a lot of questions and the undulations made it a little bit more to think about but I loved every minute of it.”
Katy, who is a freelance rider and BHS accredited coach, had various members of her family on hand to support her, including her two daughters.
‘I kicked the whole way round’
Runner-up Maisie Morgan has owned Bright Rinco, a nine-year-old Dutch gelding, since he was two.
“He’s bred to do dressage so he moves really well. He’s always been fine at jumping cross-country, but he’s not the best at galloping so I knew the cross-country today was going to be tough,” said Maisie.
“I kicked literally the whole way round — by the time I finished I don’t think I could breathe, but we made it and he was super.”
Maisie runs a livery yard in Kent with her mum.
Back from a broken pelvis
Badminton grassroots regulars Jane Rogers and Corrieview Merlin Magic — leaders after Thursday’s dressage tests — finished third.
Corrieview Merlin Magic is an 18-year-old British-bred gelding. He has contested these championships with Jane every year it has taken place since 2017.
The pair finished second here two years ago but didn’t enjoy a smooth preparation this time after Jane broke her pelvis in a fall in January.
“It’s been a mad panic to get myself fit enough to be able to ride here because I had a vertigo problem as well due to the fall so I couldn’t keep myself fit while I was recovering,” explained Jane.
“I started riding again in the second week of March but I couldn’t sit for very long. He’s only had one event this year but I actually think that worked better for him as he was sharper.”
The East Devon-based rider’s success also finished ninth in the BE90 final aboard Corrieview Oscar.
In the final BE100 standings, Rose Reid piloted the 13-year-old gelding Surefly Landarco into fourth, just ahead of Philippa Hendry aboard Flyer Des Coupeaux.
Emma Savage and Mummy’s Dream rounded out the top six.
Images by Tim Wilkinson
