Winning the National Eventing Championship at the weekend's Kihikihi International Horse Trials has catapulted Matangi's Samantha Felton into second place in the ESNZ Eventing Super League.
Felton's victory on Ricker Ridge Escada has closed the gap on runaway leader Donna Edwards-Smith in the Waipa Home of Champions CIC3* class .
Te Kauwhata's defending champion Edwards-Smith, who was riding with a severely sprained ankle, retired DSE Hokey Pokey after a problem early on the crosscountry course, and subsequently withdrew DSE Tangolooma. She conceded she was not fit enough to ride John Nicholson's course which was a huge challenge without an added handicap.
Nine of the 17 starters finished Saturday's crosscountry, with six being eliminated after having problems negotiating the technical combinations with tight curves to corners or "skinnies".
The scoreboard was totally scrambled. Dressage leader Sarah Young, on Leo Degas, and the second-equal riders, Dannie Lodder on Balmoral Henton and Brent Jury on SE Hedging, all failed to finish.