Leaders of the day Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio
Stuart Tinney showed what a riding genius he is by finishing cross country day in the enviable position of leading both the CCI4* and CCI2* classes. Riding Pluto Mio he moved up from second after dressage to first in the CCI4* and did the same thing with Annapurna in the CCI2*.
First horse out in the CCI4* - Sonja Johnson and Belfast Mojito jump the Eventful Life Triple Brush Oxer
Starting with the CCI4* Sonja Johnson was the first rider out on Wayne Copping’s cross country course riding Belfast Mojito who was having his first run at 4* level. As the vast crowd found their best vantage spots to watch the action Sonja cruised around the track making it all look very easy. “You never really know if they are ready for this level until you try them but after today – boy this horse is really ready for this level,” said a happy Sonja. The pair finished just three seconds outside the optimum time of 11.29 and finished the day in seventh place.
Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison provides Sonja with another good clear round
Sonja had a similar result with her second ride on the more experienced Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison, who finished second at Adelaide in 2011. Illicit Liaison is well known for having a mind of his own and thinking that he knows best but the pair are a good partnership and like his stable companion they jumped round clear but managed to finish inside the time and are now lying in fifth place going into tomorrow’s show jumping phase – providing that all is well at the trot up. That said, both of Sonja’s horses looked to be fit and well as they pulled up at the end cross country.
We spoke to Sonja at the end of the day to make sure she was happy with both of her horses.
Shane Rose rode Taurus (above) as the first of his two horses in the 4* class and, although most of the round looked pretty copy book, the pair did have a slightly hairy moment coming out of the second water. Taurus jumped in well and looked fine over the jump in the water, but coming out over the angled brush fence he twisted a little but in true Rose style Shane stuck tight and carried on to finish the round just one second over the optimum time. It was a great performance, which the crowd appreciated and they held the lead until late in the day when Shane was overtaken by his good friend Stuart Tinney and had to be content to finish the day in second place.
Take a look below at Shane Rose and Taurus earlier on the course over fence ten
Shane and CP Qualified at Stag Corner
Shane’s second ride of the day was on Elizabeth Wischer’s CP Qualified, who had led the class on dressage day and was having his first start at 4* level. With this in mind the Holsteiner gelding coped really well with the track but once again Shane was called upon to use his stickability. This time the problem came at the bounce going into the first water when ‘Darcy’ tried to chip in a short stride and left a leg on the fence shooting Shane forward. As the crowd gasped Shane somehow got himself back into the saddle and quickly got ‘Darcy’ to forget his mistake and focus on the next fence. He did just that and although the pair finished with 7.2 time penalties it was a terrific result and recovery from a horse doing its first four star. “He was super,” said Shane. “He is such a good jumper and to be so green and still be competitive in what is a good field of horses I couldn’t be happier.” Thanks to his great dressage test the cross country time penalties meant that CP Qualified finished the day still very much in sight of the leader in third place, but just one mark behind Stuart and Pluto.
Take a look at the stickable Shane Rose below
Last years winner, Craig Barrett, was equally happy with the performance of Sandhills Brillaire who picked up just two time penalties and finished the day in fourth place. “I lost a little bit of time in the middle of the course and I just couldn’t make it up,” said Craig “but she is a fantastic mare so I’m very happy. She is so laid back that within five minutes of finishing the course her heart rate was pretty much back to normal, so she doesn’t get too stressed about her job. At the end of the day I’m less than a rail off the leaders so it’s all going to be close tomorrow.”
Stuart Tinney and Pluto Mio on their way to take the lead
With Pluto Mio starting as the second last horse of the day it made for a very exciting finish and the tension mounted as the commentator announced that Stuart and Pluto had picked up 20 penalties at one of the early fences on the course. Thankfully that turned out to be a mix up in riders and Stuart was actually enjoying a lovely round on the 15 year old gelding, although if you wanted to be picky they did take out a flag at the B element of the Stag Corner brush complex. On the run in towards the finish Stuart knew he was going to be cutting it fine to make the time and consequently he didn’t take a pull as he jumped the final fence – not something you see very much from Stuart. But it was a strategy that worked well as the pair picked up just 0.4 penalties, which meant they could take the lead 0.2 ahead of Shane.
Take a look at Stuart and Pluto through the water
We caught up with Shane and Stuart at the end of the day
Other notables in the CCI4* class included Chris Burton who did a great job riding TS Jamaimo (while his usual rider Will Enzinger watched on FEI TV from his hospital bed). The pair only showed the occasional signs of being a new partnership but on the whole jumped a super round to finish as one of only two riders under the time, the other being Sonja and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison. Chris finished the day in sixth place, just over a rail away from the leader. “He jumped really well out there on cross country today,” said Chris "so hopefully he’ll jump just as well tomorrow.”
Chris Burton and TS Jamaimo jump the Advertiser Olive Grove Barrow
To hear what else Chris had to say about his ride click below
Isabel English finished the day as the best placed first timer at 4* level and with just 1.2 time penalties to add to her dressage score of 63.7 she was pretty happy with her day. “He (Feldale Mouse) was so good today. He just kept jumping and was so honest,” said Isabel adding “and if I hadn’t made those silly mistakes in my dressage test yesterday I would be even further up the leaderboard.”
First timers Isabel English and Feldale Mouse
With less than a rail separating the top six riders tomorrow’s show jumping is going to be very exciting, but of course there is the final trot up to get through tomorrow morning and that could bring it’s own excitement.
CCI2*
The dream run for Judy Clarke and Diablito came to an end today when the overnight leader had two stops at the duck brush fence coming into the second water. “I thought he was going okay up to that point,” said Judy “but maybe I needed to ride him a bit stronger coming into the second water. Oh well hindsight is a great thing,” said a philosophical Judy.
Judy’s mistake allowed Stuart Tinney and Annapurna to move into the lead after they produced a round where the talented eight year old mare appeared to grow in confidence the further round she went.
Stuart Tinney and Annapurna looking very classy in the CCI2*
The course appeared to be jumping well at the beginning of the class but as the day went on and some of the less experienced combinations went out on course the problems grew with several run offs at the Flower Box fence as well as Rymill Lake.
There were no such problems for Cassie Lowe and Koko Doro who looked very determined as they tackled the Flower Box combination and went on to finish just under the optimum time of nine minutes. A little later in the class Ali Foye produced a beautiful round with Kung Fu Panda, despite having to ride with a strapped up knee having recently injured it in a motor bike accident. Isabel Houghton, (who we spoke to yesterday) rode strongly into the water with Mohito and was rewarded with a clear round, just nine seconds over the time, which left her in overnight fourth place.
We were all happy to see Heath Ryan walk away from what could have been a nasty accident when Aspire R backed off the log into the water but then decided to scramble over leaving Heath with nowhere to go apart from into the Rymill Lake.
Roger Fitzharding helps Heath Ryan after his fall in Rymill Lake
To finish off what has been an exciting day the quote of today has to belong to Jane Pittard who, together with her husband John, owns both Pluto Mio and Annapurna.
“We are absolutely thrilled that both Pluto and Anna have done so well due to the wonderful team effort of Stuart and Karen and all the Tinney Eventing team. Having bred both horses and watched them in the paddock at home in their early days I never imagined that they would achieve such amazing results. Now we just have our fingers crossed for tomorrow"
