YOUNG Boroughbridge rider James Sommerville made Aske Horse Trials his own with six rides and six placings at the international event.

Sommerville, 25, scored a first, two seconds, a third, a sixth and a ninth place at the trials at Aske Hall, near Richmond.

The pair posted a dressage score of 26.5 in the BE100 Section I and kept a clear sheet through the showjumping and cross country to secure an unassailable lead.

Sommerville, who turned professional in 2009 and who trained with Oliver Townend, took second and sixth place in the BE100 Section G with Kilmihil Bay Lad and Ducal Rubin Rocket respectively.

And he would have secured first place with Kilmihil Bay Lad had he been 26 seconds closer to the optimum five minutes time on the cross country.

He again had two rides in the BE100 Section F – taking second place on Belcarras Boy and third on his own Wee Max – both horses finishing on a score of 30, but with Belcarras Boy being closer – by a whisker of two seconds – to the optimum cross country time.

Sommerville’s sixth success came in the Intermediate Section D where he took ninth place, on Arco BB.

Aske’s autumn event this year featured a CIC* class which attracted some of the top names in the eventing world.

The class was won by New Zealand’s 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Caroline Powell on Stellor Seaurchin.

The combination posted a dressage score of 43.4 and, despite adding 1.6 cross country time penalties, held on to first place.

Olympic 2012 team GB silver medallist Nicola Wilson took the prize for the best local rider in the CIC* with her ride on Night Porter, who has moved up a class after successfully competing at Intermediate level.

Lorna Riley, of Sedgefield, won the award for the best local amateur rider by claiming fifth place on her own mare VIP IV, on a score of 52.

Caroline Powell took second place in the Novice Section C on her own Kiltay, on a score of 37.2, and Sheriff Hutton’s Heidi Woodhead was fourth on DHI Cadeau, with a total of 40.1 Jen Atkinson, of Barnard Castle, secured sixth place on her own six-year-old mare Burnlea Atlantis. And Hartlepool’s Keith Smart, 40, riding his own 11-year-old Cassius Dio, was looking in a strong position on 37.5 after the dressage, but the combination picked up four showjumping faults and 8.8 cross country time penalties to leave them in ninth place.

Thirteen-year-old Grace Lumley competed in the Novice Class and finished fifth, on 16-year-old Blue Brook, owned by Rachael Lupton, who originally competed on him as a teenager up to two-star level until he got a leg injury.

Heidi Woodhead secured another fourth prize in the Intermediate Section D on DHI Paparazzi.

Stockton’s James Adams, who had taken sixth place on Kilcannon Coolguy in the Novice Section B on Saturday morning, stepped up a gear later in the day to take first in the Open Intermediate Section E on Kiltealy Brief, beating Caroline Powell on Onwards And Upwards into second place by just under three points.

Up-and-coming eventer Andrew Bartlett, 16, of Bolam, near Darlington, set a tough target in the cross country phase of the BE100 Section F when, as only the second rider on the course, he held the lead on the piebald Galway Lad until his time was overhauled by some of the tailenders in a strong class. He finished in ninth place on a total score of 39.9.

Nicola Wilson, who was competing two of her less experienced horses in the class, had two steady rounds on the six-year-old Spot On Jeeves, with whom she finished eighth, on 39.5, and Dartans Greenlough Tom, five, who finished out of the top ten with a total score of 44.5.

  • We apologise for the incorrect report on this event published last week.