King's greys rule

Kitty King scores a double, with her 2019 European Championships ride Vendredi Biats matched by an up-and-coming star

- GEMMA REDRUP

KITTY KING reigned supreme across Saturday’s two open intermediate sections. The first of her wins came aboard her 2019 European Championships mount, Vendredi Biats, who led from start to finish in a competitive class, completing on his 22.3 dressage in open intermediate section Q.

“He did everything I wanted quietly and easily and I was happy, especially as he can lack concentration in his first dressage tests back after a break,” explained Kitty of the 11-year-old owned by Diana Bown, Sally Eyre, Samantha Wilson and Sally Lloyd-Baker.

“He made the whole event feel very easy”

“During lockdown, to help prevent my horses from getting bored, they tended to do one week of training and then had one week off in the field; it seems to have worked. There’s no set plan for ‘Froggy’ yet – he will either go to Pau CCI5* or stick to CCI4*-S classes for the rest of this season.”

Kitty’s other win came in open intermediate section P, riding eight-year-old Cristal Fontaine, owned by Camilla and Alex Wakeley, who completed on his 24.8 dressage.

“He made the whole event feel very easy and it was lovely to ride my horses with big smiles on their faces,” said Kitty. “Cristal Fontaine’s lockdown aim was to become more established in his flying changes so that he is ready for four-star tests. He is only eight, so to give a competitive section a run for their money at Aston was quite exciting. He will ultimately aim for Burnham Market’s eight and nine-year-old CCI4*-S class at the end of this season.”