THE eyes of the world may be on Rio at the moment, but it was certainly the best of British at HRH Princess Royal’s Gatcombe Park Estate this weekend.

Oliver Townend became the first British rider for five years to win The British Open Championship at The Festival of Eventing, presented by the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA).

Riding Cillnabradden Evo in the competition, which incorporated the fourth leg of the Event Rider Masters (ERM), Townend thrilled thousands of spectators with a fabulous display of riding on Gatcombe’s notoriously tough, undulating ground.

Ireland’s Elizabeth Power set the standard with just 1.6 time penalties on Souladoun and rose from 17th after show jumping to eventual third place with the fastest time of the day.

She just overhauled Australian Paul Tapner, who jumped five places to fourth on Yogi Bear Vlll and now holds a commanding lead in the ERM points table with two events to go.

The speedy Power enjoyed quite a lengthy stay on top of the podium – leading challengers Matthew Heath (One of a Kind ll), Sara Squires (Sula Blue) and Izzy Taylor (KBIS Briarlands Matilda) all had run-outs, Taylor’s being particularly unfortunate when the mare tripped on the downhill slope to the last water, and Blyth Tait, eventual eighth, incurred extra time penalties when Bear Necessity V napped at the start.

Power was eventually unseated from the top spot on the podium by Frenchman Thomas Carlile (Upsilon), who took the runner-up position, and then the pair of them had to watch and wait as Townend set off on Cillnabradden Evo, the horse having fallen at the last fence last year when in contention under Andrew Nicholson.

Townend eventually secured the win by 6.3 penalties.

“Gatcombe is a very special place to me, so this win means a lot,” said Townend.

“We know that the horse hasn’t got great speed over distance and, although he’s very genuine, he can do the odd thick thing, so I was just trying to conserve his energy and get him home safely. I honestly thought the win had gone.”

Winning the Open added to what was already a brilliantly successful weekend for Townend, having already made the Advanced section his own by taking three of the top four places with his trio of rides.

Top of the pile was Peter Windus’ Dunbeau, who added one pole down in the show jumping and eight time penalties across the country to his good dressage score of 25.7.

He finished just over one penalty ahead of Townend’s second ride, Sue Chadwick and Komfi’s Samuel Thomas II.

“It was a really nice surprise [to finish first and second],” said Townend, who recorded characteristically speedy rounds on all three rides. “I liked the changes to the course, which meant spectators were more spread out around the park. The new water rode well, although having to turn back and jump it a second time was a bit disconcerting.”

Oliver also finished fourth with Michael McGrath’s Dromgurrihy Blue, just behind Tom McEwen and Frank and Jane Inns’ up-and-coming Toledo De Kerser, who led after the show jumping, but opted for a steady trip across the Gatcombe parkland to drop to third.

Zara Tindall, riding High Kingdom, finished fifth on 47.9 penalties.

Others riding close to home also had a particularly successful event, with Alexander Whewall, a 28-year-old eventer who runs a yard of 13 horses near Bristol, riding Lisa Coward’s Chakiris Star to victory in the intermediate championship on Saturday.

“I can’t believe it,” said Alexander. “This is my first big win — my family and friends are crying in the lorry park.”

“This course suits my horse because he’s little, nippy and not strong,” added Alexander. “When I heard all the time penalties that riders were getting, I knew if I could keep him moving he could do it. I tried not to take too many pulls.”

Alex and the 10-year-old Chakiris Star lay equal fourth after the dressage and recorded a quick double clear for eight cross-country time-faults, beating Oliver Townend and Master Trump into second place by just 0.9 of a penalty.

Another British rider, Francis Whittington claimed the novice championship riding Sarah Arrowsmith’s seven-year-old Evento.

“I was disappointed when I saw that I’d got [cross-country] time-faults — I thought maybe I’m getting old! — but then I saw that we were the fastest,” said

“He naturally really gallops and his stride is amazing,” he added.

Selina Milnes finished second on Iron IV, ahead of France’s Arthur Duffort riding Oaklands First Time.

Andrea Clark and Murphy’s Bonanza triumphed in a thrilling finale in The TopSpec Challenge for The Corinthian Cup, a National Restricted Novice Championship.

Thirteenth after dressage, a rare clear in the show jumping phase elevated the pair to joint first going into the cross country, and when their nearest rivals – dressage leaders Rebecca Woolley and Zeno Das Gluck – failed to complete Captain Mark Phillips’s track, Andrea’s penalty-free round ensured she claimed victory.