Whoops! Lucinda and Flying Finish
Dressage leader Lucinda Fredericks correctly predicted she would have a few time penalties on the relative novice Flying Finish, but she is still in fourth place after a committed performance; she made a brilliant recovery to hold her line after the German-bred gelding tripped over the first element of the Jeep Water.
“If Flying Finish was human, he would be a really nice, honest person,” she said.
Three Australian riders had already completed the Mark Phillips course by the time Lucinda went on course. Wendy Schaeffer rode a great round on her Australian 3 Day Event winner Koyuna Sun Dancer (pictured above) to jump clean with only 2.4 time penalties to leave her in ninth position at the end of the day. Despite a blip at Les Etoiles de Pau last year, Wendy and Dancer are usually very strong in the showjumping phase which bodes well for tomorrow. Kevin McNab and Clifton Pinot picked up 20 faults at Fence 27c plus 8.8 time faults leaving him in 18th place and Emma Dougall on Kelecyn Ice Age had a problem at Fence 15a, which was a quite influential fence for several riders, plus 10.2 time to put her in 24th place at the end of the day.
The course proved tough with 12 retiring or being eliminated on course including Boyd Martin, Anna Warnecke, Francis Whittington and Selina Elliot who was taken to hospital with a broken pelvis following a fall from her horse Bodidily.
The two standout rounds of the day were Germany’s Michael Jung and Australia’s Andrew Hoy. Michael Jung’s horse Leopin FST (pictured above) had a problem at the first water complex where he almost tried to bank the boat fence but the current World and European champion held it together to complete the course under time and without jumping penalties. He now goes into the jumping phase in the lead on a score of 32.80.
Andrew Hoy and Rutherglen (pictured below) looked good around the entire course and are now only two points behind Michael going into the showjumping.
Andrew took Rutherglen to Kentucky in April where, near the end of the cross country, the horse mistook the question at a ditch and brush fence and jumped down into the ditch.
“He has come on a lot from that experience,” explained Hoy. “I never had to push him today which was a nice feeling.”
Touted as the man to beat at this event Andrew Nicholson had a good double clear round on his less experienced horse Calico Joe to move up to fifth place but had some problems with Shady Grey and his likely Olympic mount Mr Cruise Control. The latter had two refusals at Fence 19b, a narrow fence which caused the most problems on the course, dropping him to 27th place.
Fence 19b caused problems for 8 combinations on course, with 4 riders retiring here. Photo courtesy crosscountryapp.com
Armada, a horse previously ridden by Andrew but now being piloted by British rider Oliver Townend, gave his new rider a very good round. Oli and Armada also went clear and under time to move them from sixth place after dressage to third, only 4.7 points behind the leader.
It was great to see Paul Tapner and his Badminton winner Inonothing (pictured above) back at 4* level. Looking comfortable around most of the course they had a slight problem at the third water complex, taking a long route and so incurring a total of 10.4 time penalties. However a clear jumping score moved him up one spot to be just outside of the top ten in 11th place on a score of 55.70. Paul is also placed 23rd on Caicos in the CIC 3* after cross country. This course proved much less troublesome with many clear jumping rounds and Michael Jung also heads into the showjumping phase of this class in the lead on Weidezaunprofi's River of Joy
Results after Cross Country CCI 4*
1 Michael Jung/Leopin FST (GER) 32.8 + 0 = 32.8
2 Andrew Hoy/Rutherglen (AUS) 34.8 + 0 = 34.8
3 Oliver Townend/Armada (GBR) 39.5 + 0 = 39.5
4 Lucinda Fredericks/Flying Finish (AUS) 31.8 + 9.2 = 41.0
5 Andrew Nicholson/Calico Joe (NZL) 41.7+ 0 = 41.7
6 Charlotte Agnew/Out Of Africa Two (GBR) 40.8 + 2.4 = 43.2
7 Andreas Dibowski/FRH Butts Avedon (GER) 35.2 + 8 = 43.2
8 Oliver Townend/ODT Sonas Rovatio (GBR) 49.8 + 0 = 49.8
9 Wendy Schaeffer/Koyuna Sun Dancer (AUS) 49.5 + 22.4 = 51.9
10 Harry Meade/Wild Lone (GBR) 50.8 + 1.2 = 52.0
Photos by Libby Law. CLICK HERE to view full photo gallery from Cross Country Day
Full results CLICK HERE
