For once Central Scotland horse trials autumn fixture was bathed in sunshine rather than showers.

Colin Hexley’s show jumping track caught a few out with the placement of fences and some turns requiring balance and control. The cross country was beautifully presented as always and caused its share of problems around the course. The ground was near perfect in all phases.

Nicky Roncoroni dominated the Sunday with wins in the CIC** and the prestigious Scottish novice championship.

The former came with Trig Point who is owned by Nicky and Phillip Kerr. They led the CIC** from the start and added nothing to their dressage mark. Nicky has produced the Ghareeb eight-year-old from a novice.

Nicky reflected: “I didn’t set out with any ambitions of winning so I am just thrilled! We really came in preparation for the CCI** at Blair. He was on song for his dressage and feels like everything has just come together. He is a big horse, so he has taken time.

“I was surprised to lead the dressage especially with Mathew Wright having so many horses there! The show jumping has always been his hardest phase, but he jumped a lovely clear round. He was just fantastic cross country and he made the time easily. I thought the courses rode really well, with a few new fences from the spring,” added Nicky.

Runner up was Mathew Wright with Well Spotted.

Nicky then rode her mother Janey’s Frodo Baggins sired Stonedge to victory in the Scottish novice championship. The six-year-old was bought from Sean and Sally Parking in Ireland. The pair also won a novice earlier this season at Burgie.

Nicky said: “I am delighted for mum – she is my longest standing most loyal supporter and we have been looking for seven years to find her the right horse that we wanted to keep and I think we have him now! He is just lovely and I think he will be a top horse. We went quicker cross country than I intended which meant we got a time penalty for being too fast. He really cruised round the course as though he was on rails.”

Runner up was Michelle Chalmers and the consistent Bandoshea.

Michelle commented: “I still can’t quite believe we finished second in the Scottish champs! It was a fantastic day. Both of my horses went better than I could have ever hoped, I can’t wait for Blair now!”

The Scottish intermediate championship was won by Sarra Mayberry and her classy Moores Stream.

Sarra said: “ I am very pleased with her. She missed most of last year through injury, so is still a bit behind on the dressage front but she did an encouraging test with a lot of room for improvement. The show jumping was up to height with lots of related distances but she coped well. The ground was great and the changes to the course freshened it up.

“This was her fifth time, despite being nine, round the intermediate or two-star track and there were some new questions this time. She likes Scone as she won the intermediate here in May last year and did her first intermediate here as a seven-year-old. She went clear round her first advanced at Aston le Walls in July so this was a perfect confidence boosting run before Blair. My plans for the rest of the season are the CIC*** at Blair and the eight and nine-year-old CIC*** at Blenheim,” added Sarra.

Ian Stark topped the advanced intermediate section with Looks Similar. Ian also rode the Moshaajir sired 10-year-old to victory in the OI at Lincoln earlier in the year.

Ian said: “He was great. It was his first run in three months so he was a bit jolly in the dressage, but he was phenomenal in the show jumping. He skipped round the cross country and is finding that level easy, so I was thrilled. I am missing Blair this year as I am in America and I am struggling to get another advanced run with my course designing commitments, but I am aiming to do an OI and then head to Bokelo in the autumn.”

Emilie Chandler also dominated a lot of the day’s proceedings by taking the top two slots in the intermediate section and winning the intermediate novice class as well.

Peter Laidlaw rode his mother’s Sergeant Kiki to win novice section K. This is the six-year-olds first season and he has already been second at Eglinton and third at Cumwhinton in the novice sections.

Rowan Haywood won section J with her Richmond JRN winner Borneo Jackman ahead of Scottish BE100 champion Fiona Malcolm and Glenvilla Mai.

Alice Spence and the recently downgraded Heres Herbie continued their winning ways by taking section I. This is only their second event together, winning the BE100 at Eglinton. Dumfries Pony Club member Alice bought the son of Robertstown Boy three years ago from the Lesley and Johnston Brodie.

Alice commented: “He was brilliant. He show jumped really well and was great cross country. He didn’t look at anything and really took me round, I thought the course was nice but big and bold. It was my first novice but looking back it wasn’t as scary as it seemed at the time!”

James Bracegirdle won the junior open novice class with the Krafty Clover sired Ballyshunnock.

Scott McLellan finished on his 30 dressage with Attitude to win BE100 section E, while Amanda Goldie won section F with Whistling Willow.

LEADINGawards:

BE90 A – 1, Dontbeecrackers, A Gordon, 36,0,0,0,0=36; 2, Gift Horse II, F Michaelides, 33.5,4,0,0,0=37.5; 3, Hit The Road Jack, L Miller, 32,0,0,0,7.6=39.6. B – 1, Nobelman One, C Yeaman, 32,0,0,0,4.4=36.4; 2, Fyfyn, H Chalmers, 35.5,0,0,0,2.8=38.3; 3, WE Nickel And Dime, S Dunlop, 41.5,0,0,0,0=41.5. C – 1, Like A Feather, I Clark, 24.5,0,0,0,0=24.5; 2, Remus’s Lucky Shot, A Lawson-Croome, 23.5,4,0,0,0=27.5; 3, Truly Unruly II, P Morrison, 32,0,0,0,0=32. D – 1, Just About Jimmy, K Brewis, 35,0,0,0,0=35; 2, Mozart II, M Sinclair, 30.5,4,0,0,1.6=36.1; 3, Reenee, C Lambie, 38,0,0,0,0=38. Open – 1, Howick So So, S Terris-Weir, 28,0,0,0,0=28; 2, Morning Sky, J Smith, 29,0,0,0,0=29; 3, A Bit of Irish, H Storey-MacIntosh, 30.5,0,0,0,12.8=43.3. BE100. E – 1, Attitude, S McLellan, 30,0,0,0,0=30; 2, The Last Chance, A Kerr, 32,0,0,0,0=32; 3, Lucky Charm, G Burns, 32.5,0,0,0,0=32.5. F – 1, Whistling Willow, A Goldie, 28.5,0,0,0,0.4=28.9; 2, Orinoco’s Lucky Strike, J Wood, 30,0,0,0,0=30; 3, Pitmedden Havra, A West, 31.5,0,0,0,0=31.5. G – 1, Pops Rising Star, L Worth, 31.5,0,0,0,0=31.5; 2, More Mischief, A MacIver, 32,0,0,0,0=32; 3, Bingo Z, D Gatherer, 25.5,8,0,0,0.8=34.3. Open – 1, Bill, T Hynd, 30,0,0,0,0.4=30.4; 2, Maximum Impact, M MacLennan, 31.5,0,0,0,0=31.5; 3, Durran Mystic, B Holt, 30.5,0,0,0,1.6=32.1. Novice I – 1, Heres Herbie, A Spence, 33,0,0,0,0=33; 2, Well Designed, J Straker, 33,0,0,0,0=33; 3, Zebedee De Foja, O Wilmot, 29.5,4,0,0,0=33.5. J – 1, Borneo Jackman, R Haywood, 40.5,4,0,0,4.4=48.9; 2, Glenvilla Mai, F Malcolm, 39,4,0,0,6.4=49.4; 3, Be With Me, E Chapman-Campbell, 37,4,0,0,9.6=50.6. K – 1, Sergeant Kiki, P Laidlaw, 25.5,0,0,0,3.2=28.7; 2, Donnerhall Princess, M Chalmers, 26,4,0,0,0=30; 3, In A Paddy, A Newton, 37,4,0,0,2=43. JON – 1, Ballyshunnock, J Bracegirdle, 32,4,0,0,0=36; 2, Timmy Tiptoes II, J Wood, 39.5,0,0,0,0=39.5; 3, Elegant Grey, H Larson, 37,4,0,0,0=41. Int novice – 1, Beeswing, E Chandler, 31.4,4,0,0,0=35.4; 2, Merikano, W Oakden, 33.2,8,0,0,3.2=44.4; 3, Primitive Bazaar, C Anderson, 42.3,4,0,0,0,0.4=46.7. Scottish novice championship – 1, Stonedge, N Roncoroni, 34.1,0,0,0,1.2=35.3; 2, Bandoshea, M Chalmers, 36.4,4,0,0,0=40.4; 3, Jacaranda Price, S Brownlie, 43.6,0,0,0,0=43.6. Int – 1, Douglas, E Chandler, 24.1,0,0,0,5.6=29.7; 2, Nenagh, E Chandler, 27.3,4,0,0,5.2=36.5; 3, Cherry Law, N Roncoroni, 38.2,0,0,0,0=38.2. AI – 1, Looks Similar, I Stark, 38.2,1,0,5.2=44.4; 2, Royal Council, K Hague, 44.6,21,0,18.4=84. Scottish Intermediate Championship – 1, Moores Stream, S Mayberry, 37.5,5,0,0,0=42.5; 2, Dunauger, T Garside, 33.9,17,0,0,14=64.9; 3, Cool Dancer, Olivia Wilmot, 37.5,20,0,0,8.4=65.9. CIC**. 1, Trig Point, Nicky Roncoroonni, 44.7,0,0,0,0=44.7; 2, Well Spotted, Mathew Wright, 46.7,0,0,0,0=46.7; 3, Noisette Des Pres, M Wright, 49.7,0,0,0,2.4=52.1.