Olympic stars ready to shine at Barbury (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Olympic stars ready to shine at Barbury

9:21am Thursday 9th July 2009

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Equestrian: Britain’s 2008 Olympic bronze medal quintet of William Fox-Pitt, Mary King, Sharon Hunt, Daisy Dick and Kristina Cook are all entered for the top section at the Barbury International Horse Trials, which start today.

The event runs until Sunday and promises to offer some of the hottest competition anywhere in the country.

Competitors will face some stern opposition from Wiltshire riders at the event, set in ideal viewing country near Marlborough, with near neighbour New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, Little Cheverell Aussie Olympic team silver medalists Lucinda and Clayton Fredericks, rising Chinese star Alex Hua Tian, Paul Tapner and in-form Chippenham rider Kitty Boggis also among the entries.

Many of them will be vying for the Barbury International CIC Three Star title, worth £4,000 to the winner, along with reigning World Champion Zara Phillips and riders from more than ten countries.

Lucinda Fredericks, fresh from finishing sixth at the Aachen CIC Three Star in Germany on the famous Headley Britannia, will not be defending the CIC Three Star title she won in 2008 however, but will compete in the step lower, CIC Two Star sections.

Barbury, which runs in association with St James’s Wealth Management, will cater for more than 620 horses across the weekend, with two CIC Two Star sections, the Retraining of Racehorses (ROR) Eventing Championship, Burghley Young Event Horse qualifiers and Novice sections also scheduled.

The CIC International competitors will tackle Barbury’s superb cross country course, designed by Captain Mark Phillips, on Sunday, when the tension will mount as the horses go in reverse order of standing.

The Main Arena will be busy all Sunday with the flying Inter Hunt Team Relay, the Malverns Masters Show Jumping and the climax of the ROR title. Tickets are available on the gate.

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