Townend prepared to take it nice and steady

British No 1 Oliver Townend says he is not expecting to “rule the world” at Isleham, as the eventing season swings into action this weekend.
Oliver Townend.Oliver Townend.
Oliver Townend.

The Huddersfield rider will take five horses to the Cambridgeshire event to compete on Sunday, including Bramham contenders ODT Ghareeb and Skyhills Cavalier.

Both horses could be aimed at Bramham’s CCI three-star event in June, and Townend is keen to stress that patience could be key in an action-packed 2015.

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The world No 4 says his first aim is excelling at Ballindenisk International at the end of April, two weeks before the year’s first of two British CCI four-star events at Badminton, at which Armada is being aimed.

June will take the 32-year-old back to Yorkshire for the Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials with all roads then leading to a mouth-watering September.

The country’s second CCI four-star event of the season – at Burghley – will be followed one week later by the European Championships held at Blair Castle. With so much in store, Townend is merely looking forward to getting started at Isleham.

“Isleham is just an event to get them going with,” said Townend.

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“We are not really going there to break any records and they are just building up to bigger things, most of them. We’ve got Skyhills Cavalier and Ghareeb and Colonel Joe and they have all been relatively successful in the past.

“They are a good bunch of horses so we’ll see what it brings, but we’re not going there to rule the world.

“It will be more of a gradual process than anything else and they’ve all got big aims this year.

“If they are lucky enough to be in a position to be competitive then fantastic, but at the same time it’s not the be-all and end-all by any means. We’ll see how we go.”

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The Isleham Horse Trials begin on Saturday, but Townend will depart from his Ellesmere yard on Sunday morning with LCC Cooley and Dromgurrihy Blue also part of his travelling quintet.

Townend will be joined in action by York’s Holly Woodhead, who has DHI Lupison entered and an exciting line up at Isleham also features Zara Phillips, who has her London 2012 hero High Kingdom, plus Hunua, Drops Of Brandy and CG Master Lux engaged.

New Zealand’s world No 2 Jonelle Price has Classic Moet entered, while British aces Izzy Taylor, Piggy French, Pippa Funnell, Francis Whittington and Gemma Tattersall also feature.

Irish star Aoife Clark will also be in action – including on 2014 Bramham CCI three-star winner Fenyas Elegance.

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Tattersall also has entries at the Aston-le-Walls Trials which begin this weekend, one of four events that start the season alongside Moreton in Dorset and, closer to home, the new Askham Bryan College Event. Northallerton’s Nicola Wilson is sidelined with a broken collarbone.

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