Well, what a weekend it’s been! For the past few days the eventing world has been very busy both here in Australia and overseas and now we learn of the cancellation of the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials which may put both of these events in a different perspective (also, how will William win the Grand Slam??)
Sydney International 3 Day Event
Shane and Taurus Photo: MainEvent Photography
At the Sydney International 3 Day Event the performance of Shane Rose and several of the other Elite and A List riders has really given the selectors something to think about. They should of course have been thinking about it as they winged their way to watch our UK based combinations battle it out at one of the biggest events in the world - the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials but with the very recent announcement of the cancellation of Badminton (see HERE), this may put a whole new complexion on the results at Sydney and Kentucky.
So, in case you missed some of our coverage during the weekend, here’s a quick taste of what you may want to dip into over a glass of something tonight.............
The Eventing National Performance Director, Prue Barrett was one who would have been heading to Badminton and you can catch up with Prue’s thoughts about how the riders fared on the cross country course at Sydney and who will be heading to Melbourne International 3 Day Event HERE. You can also listen to Prue’s thoughts about Badminton which gives an indication of options for the riders aiming for selection after the cancellation of Badminton HERE
Young gun Emma Scott finished in 3rd place and had a great weekend on the thoroughbred machine, Mustang; to hear how much Emma enjoyed her cross country ride CLICK HERE. We also caught up with Charlie Brister who was13th in the CCI 3* on Barrel of Fun. Charlie also celebrated his 21st birthday on showjumping day when he also won the male Musto Best Dressed Trot Up award (Natalie Blundell won the female award –w ell done Nat who always looks very smart!). Charlie’s canter up to the judges to receive his prizes almost stole the show from the main presentation! To hear our interview with Charlie after cross country, CLICK HERE
The type of cross country course is always an influential factor at these events so we took the opportunity to talk to visiting course designer Mike Etherington-Smith. Alison and Mike chatted at length about how he came to build the course here this year (mobbed by Kiwis?), the state of eventing in the UK (Mike is also the Chief Executive of British Eventing), Olympic expectations at Greenwich and his aim to create at spectator friendly course at Sydney. To listen to this interview CLICK HERE
Of course every event has great photos and Main Event Photography was on the job for us during this weekend. All photos can be found on the Photo Gallery (don’t forget you can enlarge each image and scroll through each gallery). And we haven’t finished yet – there are lots more ‘behind the scenes’ shots and video footage to come over the next few days when we’ve got our act together!
All of these articles and more can be found on the Sydney International 3 Day Event page under Events on the main menu.
Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event
William and Parklane Hawk Photo: Libby Law
On the other side of the world, Parklane Hawk ridden by William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain won the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event for the second time in three years. Allison Springer of the United States, on Arthur, held on for second and ex-Aussie Boyd Martin of the United Sates, on Otis Barbotiere, moved up to third place and also finished eighth on Remington XXV.
Martin, Karen O’Connor and William Coleman—who were placed fourth, fifth and sixth after cross-country—put the pressure on the top three by each jumping faultless rounds. Jonathan Paget of New Zealand, standing third on Clifton Promise, succumbed to the pressure by lowering two jumps in the triple combination (fences 9A and 9C), dropping him to sixth. O’Connor, on Mr. Medicott, moved up to fourth and Coleman, on Twizzel, moved up to fifth.
Australian rider Andrew Hoy finished in 17th place on Rutherglen while Kadi Eykamp and Double Rivers Dillon were unfortunately eliminated on the very tough cross country which saw only 32 riders out of 54 complete the course.
For great photos from each day by our favourite Kiwi, Libby Law visit the Photo Gallery. For a unique view of Rolex Kentucky which gives a real flavour of all the action from many points of view with video, photos and commentary by expert US equestrian commentator Fran Jurga CLICK HERE . We can promise you this is a commentary of Rolex Kentucky you won't have seen before!
That’s all for now – enjoy!
Garland for the winner - Taurus Photo: John Lechner ESJ Photo
