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Is Ingrid about to win her first ever CCI4*?
It was always likely that the twisty and long cross country course at Pau would cause problems with so many 4* first-timers in the field but it was less likely that seasoned campaigners such as William Fox-Pitt and Pippa Funnell would fall victim. The trail blazer Joseph Murphy of Ireland on Sportsfield Othello, rose 16 places to fourth with a fast clear round picking up only 2.4 penalties but when the second combination of William Fox-Pitt and Seacookie retired at fence 6 and third to go Pippa Funnell and Mirage d’Elle also retired, having had a refusal at Fence 4, things looked ominous. This fence was to prove particularly troublesome, being two large apexes with a bend around a tree between them and coming early in the course; two other riders retired here while Jock Paget riding Shady Grey and Francis Whittington riding West Side both picked up 20 penalties
Things didn’t improve for William or Pippa, with William opting to withdraw his second ride Parklane Hawk and Pippa having a fall from Redesigned at Fence 20. William felt that the ground was too firm for the 15-year-old Seacookie who won here last year and, after consulting Catherine Witt, the owner of both horses, he decided that the going really wouldn’t suit Parklane Hawk who has been out for a while
Joseph Murphy and Electric Cruise
The going did suit the horses of Joseph Murphy who once again proved that he is a master of making the time. Joseph, who was the only rider to make time at Boekelo recently on Westwinds Hercules, did it once again here riding his second horse of the day Electric Cruise.
"Both my horses are very good jumpers and had great experiences today, but they are very different,” said the elated Irish rider, who is now in second place on Electric Cruise and fourth place on Sportsfield Othello.
“Electric Cruise is very careful and travels at a good cruising speed, but he’s very careful. He’s a special horse. I enjoyed my first round as well – once I’d jumped fence 4! The only problem was that I knew I had to do it again, but I think that stood me in good stead. It was a real rider’s course, definitely more technical than last year.”
New Zealand’s Jonelle Richards also looked as if she was flying around the course on the young horse Faerie Dianimo who had her ears pricked the whole way round. Heath Ryan once described his horse Mystery Whisper (later ridden by Phillip Dutton) as ‘a jump seeking missile’ and this is what Faerie Dianimo looked like. It wasn’t always perfect but it was an impressive round from the grey mare piloted by Jonelle, who bravely opted to take all the fast routes. They did however pick up time 11.2 time penalties to put them into sixth place
“She jumped beautifully” said Jonelle “We went direct everywhere – there’s nothing she can’t do. The only problem is she thinks she’s superwoman so you have to contain her a bit”
Germany’s Andreas Dibowski rode a fast and smooth round on FRH Butts Avedon (above) to finish in third place while France’s Arnaud Boiteau and Quoriano ENE HN, incurred only four penalties to move 12 places from 17th to fifth and the best of the home riders.
There were several mishaps at the second water fence with Ireland’s Alan John Nolan and Britain’s Willa Newton both showing their gymnastic skill as they were catapulted over their horse’s head into the drink (see video below). Nicola Wilson also had a run out here in what was an otherwise great looking round on Bill Levett’s past ride One Two Many but with only 11.6 time penalties, she remains in the top ten in 10th place.
The young Belgian Julien Despontin and Waldano 36, sixth after dressage, had a bold clear round in their first 4* start but lost time and are now in 12th place while Australia’s Kevin McNab also had only time faults to bring him up the leader board from 27th to 11th on Fernhill Quality Street (below)
Despite the fact that she is a double Olympic gold medallist and one of the most experienced riders around, Ingrid Klimke is now on the verge of what may be her first ever 4* win and ever better, on a horse she owns herself.
Ingrid and Horseware Hale Bob were cheered to the finish by the large crowd enjoying an exciting and sunny afternoon as she flew home just two seconds over time. She now has a fence in hand for tomorrow’s final jumping phase over Joseph Murphy
“It was a very challenging course with lots of places where you could run out, but it was wonderful to ride,” said a delighted Ingrid “I am very proud of my horse because it’s his first year at CCI4* level and he had two run-outs at Luhmühlen.
“I knew I had to remain very focussed, but Bobby is clever so I could take the lines I wanted. I know tomorrow’s jumping will be big, but that’s great for me because he’s a big scopey jumper. And what is even better is that he is my own horse, so I am hoping that he will have a wonderful future.”
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