Piggy March steered the home-bred Diamond March to the head of affairs after dressage in the CCI2*-L on a fabulous score of 24.4. This puts her nearly 5pen clear of second-placed Tom McEwen on Brookfield In The Spotlight.
“He’s got 10 out of 10 from me today,” said Piggy. “He was extremely professional. I’m so proud he showed himself off as well as he possibly could, and nailed his halts and rein-back.”
Piggy’s seven-year-old ride, owned by Susie Wood and the March Stud, has already earned a novice win this season, as well as finished runner-up in his first two-star, at Aston-le-Walls.
“He’s a big, soft baby who’s still growing into himself, so this is his Badminton and he’ll have his eyes opened tomorrow. But he’s exciting for the future with his ability and a brain like that in the main arena.”
In the CCI3*-L, Izzy Taylor maintained her overnight lead after two days of dressage to hold first place on 26.9, riding Barrington Boy, an eight-year-old owned by Johnny Hornby.
The pair finished runner-up at Burgham four-star on their last international run.
Close up, just 0.4pen behind in second is Ros Canter on Broadstone Lion Man, with Emily King a whisker away in third on Angell’s Choice.
The top 10 in this class featured three of Britain’s team gold medallists from this summer’s world championships. Besides Ros Canter, who won team gold and individual silver in Aachen, her bronze medal-winning team-mate Laura Collett is lying ninth on Romany Cricket here. In 10th is Cerys Macaulay aboard her FEI Under-25 World Championships team gold and individual silver medallist Kananaskis.
In the CCI*-intro, Ireland’s Chloe Walsh, aged 17, holds a narrow lead on 28.3 at the end of phase one with Enniskerry Masterpiece over Heidi Coy (MGH Fair Maid). It’s tight at the top of this 94-strong field, with just four penalties – one showjump or 10sec cross-country – covering the top 12.
Ireland have a stranglehold on the CCI2* pony section, with the top four places filled by Irish riders after dressage. Jonty Purcell, 16, is in the lead on the eight-year-old dun mare FHS Felicity, scoring 31.1, but just 10pen covers the field.
