WAIS IASP athlete Clayton Fredericks has marked a successful weekend campaign by winning the Saumur CCI*** event in France with his mount Bendigo.
In a result that has earned Australia valuable Olympic qualification points, Frederick and Bendigo led from start to finish in a solid campaign against a high quality international field.
The drama of the Saumur international event carried on through four days for Fredericks and Bendigo, wholed on dressage on the first day of competition and kept that lead through a hard-fought clear cross country round, and finally into the last showjumping round.
There was disappointment for Fredericks other mount Brookleigh however, who finished well down the table after a run-out during the cross country phase.
Earlier in the competition, Fredericks and Brookleigh had started first in the dressage before being overtaken by other riders finishing with a tenth placed position with a dressage score of 47.9.
Bendigo however, would not be denied as Fredericks’ score of 41.4 was more than two points ahead of nearest rival Aurelien Kahn of France. Fredericks commented afterwards: ” It’s not often you come out of the test knowing you’ve nailed it, but it happened this time. “
Nearly 150 riders representing 17 nations competed at Saumur in its 26th year of competition. The Saumur competition holds mixed memories for Clayton, who had a grand win on Ben Along Time in 2006. Two years later, however tragedy struck on the course when his horse arbor collapsed and died on the course.
