New Zealand’s Jonelle Price and Classic Moet.
© Kit Houghton
Many had predicted that this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials would not be a dressage competition, and so it proved, with New Zealand’s Jonelle Price and Classic Moet soaring from 22nd place after the first phase into the lead with a thrilling exhibition of fast cross-country riding.
Jonelle has been described as the fastest female event rider on the planet and it seems that the arrival of her baby son, Otis, last summer has done nothing to put the brakes on. She finished just one second over the optimum despite a heart-stopping moment in the Lake (fence 9abc) when the mare got too close to the brush in the water and twisted in the air. However, Jonelle soon recovered her aplomb.
“I was a bit rusty and too strong – it was my fault – so we had to abort,” explained Jonelle. “I had been up on the clock until then and we were then 12-15 seconds down, so as soon as we were through the Shogun Hollow, I thought ‘Let’s go’.
“She’s some mare, so un-special that she’s special, and she makes me look good. When I first got her, as a 10-year-old, I didn’t think she had enough scope, but she’s your best friend.”
The stage is set for a thrilling climax in tomorrow’s showjumping phase. Dressage leaders Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class, the penultimate combination out on course this afternoon, finished on an equal score to Jonelle – 28 – but were further away from the 11min45sec optimum.
Oliver will be double-handed in his bid to become the third rider to secure the Rolex Grand Slam as his second ride, Cooley SRS, currently lies in fifth.
“Two horses in the top five is pretty good,” said Oliver, the master of understatement. “Five years ago, I kept saying to people that I had some really exciting young horses coming through. Three years later people kept on asking, ‘Are they still coming through’? I’ve had both these horses from four-year-olds and it’s taken a long time to get them here, but I’m glad they have turned out as talented as I thought they would,” he said.
Ros Canter and Allstar B led for a long time, but dropped to third by the end of the day on a score of 30.3.
Ros’ round was a brilliant exhibition of bold, attacking riding coupled with precision and great care. Her 6.4 time penalties were just about as fast as anyone managed in the morning.
“This was probably the first time he’s had to really dig deep,” said the 32-year-old. “Last year [when they finished fifth] I had a dream ride and everything happened really easily. Today he was more tired than he had been before, but he still dug deep. He was unreal over the technical fences. When I jumped the Vicarage Vee I was thinking, ‘this ought to feel big’, but he just stepped over it.”
The ever-brilliant Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW are within striking distance of the leaders in fourth place on a score of 30.7.
They survived a heart-in-mouth moment at the Outlander PHEV Mound (fence 14) when a misjudgement at the first corner left Michael having to cling on like a limpet.
“The gallop down hill changed the balance and perhaps I trusted him a bit too much,” was Michael’s assessment. “I was nearly out; it was very close. You could have had a mistake anywhere out there, but that’s what cross-country riding is about; you need care from the first to the last [fence].”
Mark Todd, the oldest rider in the field at 62, has two horses in the top 10. Kiltubrid Rhapsody lies sixth and Leonidas II, 10th.
America’s Lauren Kieffer lies seventh with the much-admired mare, Veronica, while Gemma Tattersall (Arctic Soul) sit in eighth.
Eleven of the 16 first-timers completed, including ninth-placed Padraig McCarthy and Mr Chunky and Alicia Hawker and Charles RR (54th).
There were 44 clear rounds from 77 starters over Eric Winter’s 32-fence course. Huntsman’s Close (fences 6abc), put paid to several leading contenders’ chances, including previous winners Pippa Funnell (Billy Beware) and William Fox-Pitt (Fernhill Pimms), who both ran out at the tricky third element.
There were all sorts of lines ridden through the Lake, but Harry Dzenis (Xam) and James O’Haire (China Doll) were the only ones to endure a complete submersion on the landing side of the huge log drop in.
Course-designer, Eric Winter, said: “I was happy with how today panned out. I didn’t expect riders to go to the left of the ropes coming out of the lake and angle the straight route c element – they beat me there – but otherwise the fences generally rode as I hoped they would.”
“What a remarkable day of competition, I am always in awe of the partnership between horse and rider in this phase,” said Lance Bradley, Vice Chairman at Mitsubishi Motors in the UK. “The cross country is always exciting, and we have seen some wonderful combinations tackling the course. It will be fascinating to see who takes home the trophy on the final day of competition tomorrow. Congratulations to everyone today.”
Source: Event press release
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