Congratulations to Lucy Butcher and Minerva Van De Kooldries who have landed a dream ticket to compete at the NAF Five Star BE80 Championships at Bramham next year after winning the National Qualifier class at the Firle Place Area Festival.
Lying seventh after dressage with a score of 31.6, a superb double clear with no time penalties propelled Lucy and Minerva Van De Kooldries right up to the top of the leader board and secure the win.
“It was such a magical day at Firle, which meant so much to me,” said Lucy. “Minerva Van De Kooldries (Darcy) is 10 and sustained a DDFT injury in September 2020 and I have taken a deliberately long time to rehab her. She’s a, strong minded, often lazy and opinionated mare at times, but super talented and when she’s on your side she’s just the most incredible ride.
“We have been together since I bought her as a five-year-old and it has been an up, down and sideways journey! So, this really was an emotional win for me, Darcy and my mum. It was wonderful for it to happen as such a beautifully run, friendly event such as Firle.”
Well done to all the riders who took part in the qualifier and congratulations to all those who, like Lucy, will be progressing on to compete in the 2023 NAF Five Star BE80 Championship at Bramham.
The inaugural NAF Five Star BE80 Championships takes place at Bramham Park next month and it is exciting to see riders already securing their place for next years Championships.
There are four Area Festivals through the season all offering National Qualifier classes, as well as their own Area Championships. Starting this weekend at Firle, the Festival then makes it way to Glamis Castle in Scotland between 30-31 July, Frickley Park in Yorkshire between 19 -20 August and Chillington Hall, Staffordshire between 10-11 September.
If you would like to compete in one of the remaining three Area Festivals, there is still time – as the Sport Committee have kindly agreed to extend the qualification period for the Area Festivals to the 3 July 2022 instead of the original date of 2 May 2022. The aim is to allow more members to take part in the Area Festivals – and that could be you!
To compete in National Qualifiers you will need to have achieved a Top Percentage Qualification, which is awarded to the top 20 percent of eligible combinations placed in a normal BE80, BE90, BE90 Open, BE100 or BE100 Open class. Use our eligibility checker to check whether you have achieved a qualifying ticket to compete in a National Qualifier at the Area Festivals.
British Eventing would like to thank NAF, title sponsors of the BE80 Championships. NAF’s premium range of Five Star brands include Superflex, Superflex Senior, PROFEET, Optimum, Magic, Oestress and Respirator Boost with quality at the heart of everything they do. They are a UFAS (Universal Feed Assurance Scheme), GMP+ (International Feed Assurance Scheme) and BETA NOPS (Naturally Occuring Prohibited Substances) accredited company and this enables them to guarantee full traceability on all the natural ingredients they utilise in their formulations, which are also selected in compliance with the FEI guidelines for Clean Sport. For further information, visit their website.
