Despite a damp start the sun and crowds soon came out for the first day
There has been much discussion around the fact that the first morning of dressage at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials featured so many good horses and riders of the calibre normally reserved for the Friday afternoon. Theories range from the effect of the weather to a Kiwi conspiracy – my personal theory is that the press lunch kindly provided by Mitsubishi Motors today meant that the journalists needed a little break this afternoon or alternatively that maybe this year the field is so much more wide open.
Paul Tapner kicked off proceedings at 9:30am following David Doel’s test ride. Paul and his 14 year old Irish Sport Horse Kilronan had the worst of today’s weather and didn’t produce the test they did last year to score 47.8 and finish the day in ninth place. For Paul it was a disappointing score for his more experienced horse
Paul Tapner and Kilronan
“The score is about 10 penalties more than I wanted” he admitted “I was aiming for a sub-40 and it’s only just sub-50 so I’m fairly disappointed with that. The horse has certainly got a better test in there and I’m not disappointed with the mark in relation to the test because there were some fairly clear and obvious mistakes in the test. But it’s not a dressage competition so we’ll just have to make sure we finish on our dressage score and that will pull us up the ranks”
Fourth to go, the 2013 winners Jock Paget and Clifton Promise (above), put in the first test that impressed the judges to score 41.2 while another Kiwi rider Jonelle Price riding Classic Moet, the young mare that finished fourth in Normandy, produced a test of 54.9 to be a little off the pace.
Tomorrow Jonelle rides The Deputy while husband Tim will be riding Ringwood Sky Boy, who were second after the cross country here last year and we caught up with them after Jonelle’s test this morning. Jonelle admits that the dressage is not Classic Moet’s favourite phase but that both horses are ‘true 4* horses’ whose strengths lie in the cross country phase while Tim is on a bit of a roll after Kentucky
Jonelle and Tim Price
It was a Kiwi morning with a trifecta by lunchtime. Sir Mark Todd riding Leonidas II scored 45.8 for an eventual fifth place and was immediately followed by Andrew Nicholson on Nereo who initially scored in the low 40’s but a correction by the judges to 37.8 moved him straight up to the top of the leader board.
Andrew Nicholson and Nereo
“Well that’s a first” commented Andrew as the revised score was announced, one he was obviously pleased with and that kept him on top until the end of the day.
One of the last riders of the morning, the Australian International 3 Day Event 4* winner Chris Burton and TS Jamaimo also produced a test that the rider was pleased with but didn’t quite get the score to match Mr. Nicholson. The little Australian thoroughbred that shot into the limelight as Chris’ catch ride in Adelaide in 2013 doesn’t have huge movement but he tried his little heart out.
Chris is a master of ringcraft, producing a very polished test on top with only one little glitch for a score of 47.7 to be the top placed Australian combination at the end of the day in eighth place
The defending champion Sam Griffiths, who has had a slightly distracted but very happy preparation for the event thanks to the arrival of a baby daughter last week, also felt that he had thrown a few marks away riding Paulank Brockagh today but was still ‘pretty pleased’ with his Irish mare.
“On the whole my horse worked well” said Sam “I just made a few silly mistakes that I’m kicking myself about. She’s not a naturally extravagant horse so you just can’t afford to make any mistakes”
Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh
Sam and Brocks finished in 11th place on 48.2 so, despite a ‘few silly mistakes’ they are still well in the hunt.
The fourth Australian rider to appear in the arena during the morning session was Andrew Hoy on his first ride, Lanfranco. The stunning looking 15 year old German bred Trakehner has a bit of a reputation in these pressured environments – in 2013 his then rider Bettina Hoy retired during the dressage when Lanfranco repeatedly reared in the dressage arena - and there were definitely moments today when Andrew needed a good seat.
However Andrew did not give up and seemed to be treating the test as a training exercise after the first few moments, riding with all his skill and tact; this horse has all the ability to produce some great work and there were glimpses of it today despite all the tension but sadly they finished the day at the bottom of the board on 57.56%.
Andrew Hoy and Lanfranco
We spoke to WEG silver medallist and dressage trainer for the Australian High Performance squad Gareth Hughes after the morning’s session to get his feedback on how he thought the four Australian riders had fared today
Niklas Bschorer and Tom Tom Go 3
After lunch the Kiwi dominance was broken by a Badminton debutant, 20 year old Niklas Bschorer. The youngest rider in the field, Niklas and his 12 year old Holsteiner Tom Tom Go 3 produced a lovely test to score 42.1 and finish in third place today.
Niklas, who grew up in Germany but moved to England to finish his schooling and is now based at Australian rider Catherine Burrell’s yard at Maizey Manor Farm, was fairly confident of his horse’s ability but admitted to a bit of ‘breath holding’ for them both as they entered the Badminton arena for the first time in their career
Flora Harris heads a group of British female riders jostling for contention towards the top of today’s leader board. Flora, riding Amazing (prompting the comment from Carl Hester that it’s always dangerous to give horses names like that) was quite ‘amazing’ today to finish in fourth place on 43.6, while Pippa Funnell, Laura Collett, Nicola Wilson and Mary King round out an impressive top ten at the end of day one
