King Edward grows his greatness

Henrik von Eckermann continued world domination, while British riders put up a strong fight

- NANCY JAFFER

WORLD champion Henrik von Eckermann seemed destined to win the title, but two British riders also had moments when they were key players over three days of competition in Omaha, Nebraska.

Henrik, who is also number one in the world rankings, breezed around the speed test that started the competition aboard Dufour Stables' plucky King Edward. The 13-year-old Belgian warmblood is as game as they come.

"He's a very small horse, but when he comes into the ring, it feels like he's growing five centimetres more, and that makes the difference. It's like starting an engine," Henrik explained.

The course, laid out by Portuguese designer Bernardo Costa Cabral and his team, was difficult to tackle at full speed due to the penalty of an added three seconds for each rail dropped. That meant the 40 riders in the line-up had to be wary of both the clock and the fences that came up very fast in the imposing, but tight, CHI Health Arena as their World Cup journey got under way.

Henrik’s time of 59.09sec was just 0.14sec faster than Scott Brash’s prompt round on Hello Jefferson, and Henrik ended the evening with 41 points on the World Cup scoring system, while Scott was right behind on 39.

Scott said he knows Lady Pauline Harris’s and Lady Pauline Kirkham’s 14-year-old Belgian warmblood “has all the talent you need to win big competitions” and that gave him confidence with the World Cup being his major goal for this year.

At the same time, he noted there is quite a challenge when “mixing with the best” in a star-studded field.