Eighteen-year-old American rider Eve Jobs took the feature CSI4* 1.45m speed class sponsored by Country Frog on the penultimate day of the Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show. With valuable Longines Ranking points on offer, a world-class field of 56 competitors came forward to the International Arena where under clear blue skies and temperatures touching 30°C, the competition promised to be just as intense.

Second in to the International Arena, Belgium’s Constant Van Paesschen held the lead in the early stages, leaving all the fences standing in 80.21 seconds. In the end however, he would be passes by ten other riders. 

Jobs, on her CSI4* debut and first time competing abroad, produced one of the most impressive rounds of the day with her 10-year-old gelding Charleville (Quasimodo Z x Lancelot) and a final time of 68.17 seconds saw her go straight to the top of the leader board having knocked 12 seconds off the target time.

The challengers kept coming through the second half of the competition with Harry Charles on Controe (Wender R x Iroko), Robert Smith on Bavi (Balou du Rouet x Caretino) and William Funnell on Billy Angelo (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Kroongraaf) all coming within fractions of a second from taking the lead. As the competition reached its closing stages, British hopes were raised by Julie Andrews and Wilando B (Oklund x Topas) who produced a well-judged round but ended up just over one tenth of a second behind Jobs, stopping the clock at 68.32 seconds and slotting her into second place.

"I thought people would be faster than I was, but I made short turns and went as fast as I could," said Eve after her win. "Charleville is wonderful and such a fighter, he always wants to win."

"I’d heard such great things about Bolesworth and what Nina Barbour has done that I just had to come. It’s beautiful here and the weather has been amazing. I have a horse competing in the Grand Prix tomorrow and I hope all goes well," Jobs added.