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Sam Griffiths has taken out the 2014 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in what proved to be an emotional and exhilarating final day of competition. The weather continued to rage on and as riders battled against heavy winds and sporadic showers, they struggled to keep the poles in their cups. The course proved to be very tough on the tired horses, despite the best intentions of course builders.
“It’s Badminton. It still needs to be an important test but they had a tough day yesterday,” said assistant Course Designer Nick Hoggett. Nick said that the course was a little bit softer than the previous year however they were still asking tough question of the combinations. “You want the end of the course to be a challenge. A fair challenge, you don’t want the last six fences to be a giveaway and everybody jumps them clear.” That certainly was not the case. Not one rider jumped clear and under time.
Sam Griffiths entered the ring as the fifth last rider and he rode a beautifully. With most of the combinations dropping at least three rails before him, Sam left the arena after dropping just one pole. “I had no expectations of being on top of the podium. I just concentrated on what my horse does well and jumped beautifully and to my surprise, here I am,” Sam said.
As the fifth placed rider Sam only hoped to put pressure on the guys ahead of him, he never dreamed that they would all have more faults than him. “I was pretty emotional at the end and that was even before I knew the result and I guess I was emotional more because of how hard my horse had tried for me. She was a star.” Sam was full of praise for Paulank Brockagh, a mare that took him around Badminton and Burghley last year. “She looks after me and she’s clever and she’s quick and she’s powerful and I think the world of her.”
“She’s got a massive heart and she just tries and tries and tries”
Sam came to the UK in 1995 from Australia and has been in the top six at Badminton three times. “When I was a little boy we used to wait for the video tapes to come out to Australia so we could watch the highlights of Badminton,” he said. To come to the UK and ride around the prestigious event was a dream come true for the Victorian. “To actually win it is the completion of that dream; it means the world to me. As a little kid growing up in Australia that was always the pinnacle.”
I caught up with a very excited Sam after this evening’s press conference, where he told me more about Paulank Brockagh and the celebrations that will be taking place tonight:
Oliver Townend and Armada entered the ring after Sam and he was feeling the pressure as the highest placed Brit. Oliver had two rails but still took second place and he was delighted. “It’s a very, very special place and at certain points riding around that cross country course yesterday I thought, this is what it is really all about,” Oliver said. As a previous winner of Badminton, Oliver told Sam to enjoy the moment and to let it sink in.
“It really has been a proper 4* competition, obviously we didn’t all get the result that we wanted and we probably would have wanted more completions but we can’t alter the weather. I think that on good ground it would have still been a fair but fantastic test.” The course may have been challenging but the Brit was in favour of this. “It's not great not to have any clears but at the same time I don’t think that it was an unfair test today. I think it was just a reflection of what the horses have been through.”
It was a miracle that Harry Meade was even competing at this year’s Horse Trials but he astonished fans as he not only completed the event but rode to third place aboard Wild Lone. A fall last August left Harry with shattered elbows and he was told that his career as an event rider was over. “With everything that has gone on in the last 6 months, it has put everything into perspective and also this week has properly exceeded my expectations, so I just went with it and enjoyed it,” Harry said. “To be honest, I’ve been quite calm all week. I didn’t let myself get too ambitious.”
With just one rail, the Brit rose to a podium finish from eighth place. “Going into the show jumping today I felt very relaxed. I just thought to myself, I’m just going to enjoy it and you never quite know how you’re going to react until you’re in that situation where you’re sitting in the top few and you know there’s a lot of fences coming down.”
Paul Tapner was the overnight leader and all eyes were on him as he entered the ring this afternoon. With so many riders having faults before him, Paul had two poles in hand but the tough track took its toll. The pair started promising but after they dropped one rail, more followed. “That’s the sport. Sometimes you have clear rounds and sometimes you don’t,” Paul said after his round.
Taperz was still pleased with Kilronan’s efforts and was delighted to finish in fourth place at what has been one of the toughest Badminton’s in a long time. “This horse was perfectly capable of jumping a clear round but it was not to be today.” A true sportsman, one of the first things Paul did after leaving the ring was run over to Sam and lift him up, shouting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!”
“Fourth place though, still an amazing result at a competition that was so tough and influential like we’ve had here today.” I caught up with Paul (after he had released Sam!) and you can listen in here:
Pascal Leroy was another one to drop down from his overnight position. The Frenchman seemed to be sitting on a tired Minos De Petra who knocked two rails and the pair collected two time penalties to finish in fifth place. Pippa Funnell was absolutely delighted to finish in sixth place after she dropped one rail and had four time penalties. Pippa rode Billy Beware who was at his first Badminton – not a bad start to the young horse’s 4* career!
Wendy Schaeffer was the first Australian into the ring in the final show jumping session after moving up into the top group once the mysterious 20 penalties had been removed from her penalty score from the day before. The only rider to leave all poles in their cups, Wendy rode around like the Grand Prix show jumper that she is.
“Dancer was super, he tried really hard. I think that he go a little bit nervous, a little bit conservative so we had the time faults but I just wanted to give him every chance of jumping the fences clear,” Wendy said. “It’s very much been a jumping test at Badminton this year which is probably a good thing.” It certainly was good for her anyway as Wendy moved up from equal 67th after the dressage to finish in 12th place overall.
I spoke to Wendy after her brilliant show jumping round:
Chris Burton was extremely happy with TS Jamaimo who had recovered brilliantly after yesterday’s gruelling cross country test. “He’s a real blood horse and I think that he’s really exciting for the future,” Chris said. “It’s always nice to jump clear rounds on a careful horse but they can always be forgiven for having one down.” Chris and TS Jamaimo finished in 16th place, a fantastic result for the relatively new partnership.
You can listen to more from Chris here
Bill Levett was the first Australian to enter the show jumping ring this morning. Unfortunately Shannondale Titan couldn’t get his legs up high enough over some fences, dropping four rails and collecting one time fault. Bill looked slightly disappointed with his round but with combinations dropping as many as seven rails, he needn’t be. Bill was simply another victim to the challenging course that truly tested both horse and rider after a tough run across the country. Fellow Australian Emma Dougall withdrew after completing the cross country phase after a difficult round yesterday.
The 2014 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials were exhilarating from start to finish. Gale force winds never stopped blowing, the rain turned green grass to muddy slush and the jumping courses were tougher than they have ever been. With the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games looming in Normandy this year, this event has given some riders the opportunity to prove themselves whilst upsetting some of the biggest names. This weekend eventing has been returned to the tough standard that it should be and all competitors should take note of some wise words from Mark Todd: “If you finish this year’s Badminton, it’s quite an accomplishment.”
Article by Emily Penney
