Springwell International Horse Trials RESULTS OVERALL - Sara and her Olympic hopeful Iorn King powered their way to victory in Section-1 of the four star event, denying Sasha a further win at this level with the ever shining Classy Touch and the top prize honours of $2,000 by less than the cost of a show jump, while Sara on her second ride Epoxy who had been quietly moving up the leader board from 8th position after dressage to edged Sahsa's horse out of a place in the top three. That Druid's long standing champion stallion Model Citizen reached the final stages of competion at all was a tribute to the toughness of this special breed of rider. Her second cross-country ride in the second section of the four star left a front leg at the Huntsman's Close, possibly as a result of losing a shoe and although he kept his feet Druid was unable to keep her seat. Somewhere in the melee 'City' gashed the outside of her thigh with one of her studs and Druid ended the afternoon in hospital having a deep and very dirty wound cleaned up and stitched back together. 'When I was lying down I saw his hind leg come down', she said, 'and I thought he was going to break my leg. But he did his best to avoid me. Poor City, he just stood there on the far side of the close looking guilty for catching me with his stud and thinking all the time he was in the wrong!' THE DRESSAGE- Sasha coasted into second place during Friday morning with newcomer to this demanding sport, Tropical Designation, who has been proving his worth as an eventer of late. Benashlyn's good test placed him just one mark behind them in arrears for third place. Despite his good placing, his owner was a little disappointed with his test.'He was too bright especially in his rein-back', she said, 'If I had known I would have given him an extra half hour's work'. Of her up and coming young stallion SA Karma Act Victoria admited 'He isn't the most comfortable horse to sit on in the dressage. His trot is springy and very punchy, not at all fluid. It's like sitting on a piston. But he's gone better each time I've competed him'. His lead held early on from the dressage was to be long lived even though Victoria later quipped that she found it nigh on impossible to stop him anticipating the canter changes as he's done this test so often recently. THE CROSS-COUNTY- Alyssa was not alone in saying of the cross-country course that she would have liked to see a few more combination fences towards the end to keep horses sharp and prevent rides going too fast, while multiple winner Victoria described it as 'unlike any Springwell I have been to before-this time you are looping and looping, and doubling back and taking half circles'. 'The course did seem to ride big', said Druid, 'But I was sitting on two horses just moving up to this level.-I had a scarey moment at the podium', she said of her two star ride Springwell Onyx, 'where I thought she might go to the side but she got herself to the other side and apart from that the rest felt pretty good. She didn't pull as much as I expected and her head was steadier then last year.' 'The course rode very much as I expected-the first part was twisty,with jumps coming up fast, and horses needed to be alert, while the last third was very quick and you didn't have to tax your brain too much' said Amanda. THE SHOW JUMPING- Although Iorn King maintained his supremeacy by jumping a great clear round Sara was later heard to say 'I quickly found King was paying very little attention to me at all! I had to either go with him or get off' she laughed. With two fences down Springwell Irish Courage slipped three places to fourth after his disappointing show jumping round where he took down 3 fences. Eurosport, first after cross-country, fared worst when she slipped at fence seven and nearly came down, taking the whole fence and wing with her, which dropped her to 5th place. A diappointed Victoria said 'It was just bad lack and the damp conditions working against us, next time I would consider putting larger studs in to attempt to give her better grip.' The incident left Eurosport understandably shaken but she quickly recovered her normal defiantly competitive form as she finished her round with a flourish giving a buck of 'joie de vie' after the final fence. 1.CCI* Section-1 1st-Gem Of A Prince 2nd-Lakeside 3rd-Playboy 4th-Apache Warrior 5th-Mascarla 6th-Napolean 7th-Zenith 8th-Final Fantasy Section-2 1st-Springwell Poulaphouca 2nd-Goverington 3rd-Springwell Devil's Tipple 4th-Springwell Irish Courage 5th-DFS Apollo's Mystery 6th-The Sweetest King 7th-Springwell Four Leaf Clover 8th-Catherston Renaissance Section-3 1st-SA Karma Act 2nd-Raging Radiance 3rd-Springwell Setanta 4th-Wake up New York 5th-Tempting Fire 6th-High Rule 7th-Artful Waltz CS 8th-Governing Whisper Section-4 1st-Eloquence 2nd-UH Tropical Designation 3rd-Benashlyn 4th-WCh SBS Emerald Storm 5th-CS Political Faith 2.CCI** Section-1 1st-Springwell Onyx 2nd-Mega Fleet 3rd-Light The Way 4th-On My Honour 5th-Irish Cruise 6th-Phantom of the Opera 7th-Die Another Day 8th-Rhapsody In Blue Section-2 1st-Blue Storm Rising 2nd-Walzing Princess 3rd-Arkemedis 4th-Fore's Prospect 5th-Eurosport 6th-Emerging Fire 7th-Open Secret 8th-Wild Man Section-3 1st-Felo 2nd-Goeveneur 3rd-Beyoncia 4th-Norrik 5th-Apriloaw 6th-Lilaca 3.CCI*** Section-1 1st-High And Mighty EA** 2nd-Springwell Saoirse 3rd-Wallstreet Whisper 4th-Springwell Patriot 5th-Milky Way 6th-Springwell Broc 7th-Sweet Caroline 8th-Farrington Section-2 1st-IHoF Storm Fury 2nd-Temptation 3rd-Perfect Ambition 4th-Mighty Forum 4.CCI**** Section-1 1st-Iron King 2nd-Epoxy 3rd-Xena 4th-IHoF Classy Touch 5th-Crown Jewel Imperium 6th-*Nico 7th-Government Issue 8th-NCh Chaotic Insanity Section-2 1st-Springwell Dara EA 2nd- Model Citizen 3rd-Amerigo Vespucci 4th- Autumn Dream 5th-Springwell Hennessy 6th-Enchanted Glory 7th-Springwell DareDevil 8th-Springwell Druid Section-3 1st-Lúthien 2nd-Ruby Noir 3rd-Eternal Hope 4th-Tribulation 5th-Soaring High 6th-Absolute Authority 7th-Blazing Integrity 8th-Almost Illegal Section-4 1st-IHoF Silver Century EA** 2nd-Ragazzo 3rd-IHoF Regal Justice