Koning Albert qualifies for HOYS

Great result for Koning Albert and Action Annie who are both off to HOYS.

A 5am start saw us heading up north to the Wolsingham Show for the HOYS Grade C Qualifier which is a 2 round class starting at 1m35 and the jump off at 1m40. Sponsored by John Chadwick Equestrian we had a bit of a laugh in the prizegiving together😆

Daniella Johnston rode her own Action Annie first and went clear. Sadly her second ride, Tina IV just tapped a pole off and then riding Koning Albert (Berti) last to go, she gained another clear.

Out of the 33 horses, only 9 went clear over Mark McGowan's nice but testing course built on  sticky grass footing, with some top names in the line up.

Dani set a good time in the jump off on Annie. She was later pipped by 1 second by Leonie Aitkenhead, who took the lead. Robert Shields was the other double clear who laid in 3rd place until Berti came in.

We were all so nervous for Berti, who was last to go went clear and took 3rd place by 0.12 second. He certainly relished the sticky footing and did some class jumping.

Only the top 3 Qualify for HOYS, and the 2 riders in the top 3 places who travelled all that way, both live within 1/4 mile of each other!

Berti was overdue for a decent result as he's spent a while being "nearly there" so we were all delighted for him and Dani.