Paul Tapner and Kilronan are the top placed Australians in the CCI 3* Photo: Libby Law
Sadly Australia’s hold on the top two positions in the CCI 3* at Blenheim slipped through the reins during the cross-country phase yesterday.
Chris Burton disappeared from the reckoning with an unfortunate stop on Underdiscussion at the Salmon Leap (fence 23), a brush fence coming out of the water, and Tim Boland, second after dressage, incurred 16 time penalties when GV Billy Elliot’s travels across the world caught up with him near the end of the course. Better news for Australia is that Paul Tapner and the grey horse Kilronan moved up to sixth place after a clear round with only 3.2 time penalties to be only 6.8 penalties off the leader.
Once again William Fox-Pitt is in that prime spot, having taken the CCI*** lead on a tough cross-country day and is now on target to score the 50th three-day event victory of his illustrious career.
Riding Catherine Witt’s Seacookie, he does not have a fence in hand over another of the all-time greats, New Zealander Mark Todd, who is lying second with 2.4 time penalties on a chance ride, Rodney Powell’s Conair, a horse he has only ridden once before (how does he do it!?).
Kristina Cook, William’s team mate at the Olympics, where they were both part of the silver medal-winning British quintet, is in third place with 0.8 of a time penalty on De Novo News, and is also within a showjumping fence of the leader.
William Fox-Pitt and Seacookie Photo: Libby Law
William retired Seacookie on the cross-country at Burghley last weekend because the horse had missed a lot of work and did not appear to be enjoying it. This time, Seacookie flew, finishing bang on the optimum time of 10 minutes 21 seconds.
“That was a big difference to last week,” said an elated William. “Retiring was a bit of a shock and made me wake up. But I knew Seacookie was a real four-star horse when he picked up so well at the table to big corner fence 24 (the Abingdon & Witney College Bar).
Last week at Burghley William commented that, although he had suggested he may wind down his eventing activities after London 2012, he currently has such a good team of horses that he certainly intended to keep competing, at least for the time being. With a result like this, it’s easy to see why.
Mark Todd, who won the CIC at Blenheim on Land Vision in 2010, is currently lying in second place. The veteran Kiwi commented: "We had one or two hairy moments but the horse keeps going and he keeps jumping. Blenheim is a proper three-star track this year, perhaps a bit bigger than it has been recently, and that’s a good thing as it will set horses up well for Badminton.”
Ingrid Klimke, third on Tabasco, had a run-out at the influential Ariat Europe Dew Pond (fence 6) and Lucy Wiegersma, fourth, slipped to seventh place with 8.4 time penalties on Simon Porloe.
Catherine Witt, seen here at Burghley 2011 where her horse Parklane Hawk, ridden by William, won the CCI 4*
44 of the 89 starters had clear rounds, with six inside the optimum time. The only other rider apart from William, in the top ten to go double clear was Britain’s Francis Whittington on Easy Target, another horse owned by Catherine Witt.
The course-designer, Eric Winter, commented: “It’s big track all the way and the more experienced riders tended to come to the top. The influence of the Jeep Corners (fence 16) surprised me; I expected most riders to take the right-hand side whereas most early riders took the left-hand side but as the day went on more riders realised the right-hand side was easier.”
Here, Eric and Francis Whittington discuss the options at fence 16. Videos of all fences can be viewed at http://www.blenheim-horse.co.uk/2012-cross-country-course. A course download is also available from www.crosscountryapp.com.
CLICK HERE for CCI 3* Results and fence analysis.
CIC 3*
In the CIC 3* world number one ranked Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo have held on to their lead in the CIC*** British Championship after the dressage and showjumping phases. The combination went clear in the showjumping, giving them a 4.2 penalty point buffer over second-placed Brit Piggy French and West Side. Bettina Hoy who was delighted to complete at Burghley last week and who will be holding clinics in Australia in January, is in third place with Designer 10 and guess who is in fourth place? Yes, it’s William and Bay My Hero, owned by guess who? Yes, Catherine Witt! Looking at this event alone there can be no doubt about the value of having fantastic owners supporting top riders and the sport
Sammi Mcleod and LG Wellington Photo: Libby Law
As in the CCI 3* an Australian holds sixth place in the CIC 3* with Sammi McLeod and LG Wellington having one time fault in the showjumping to move her down one spot from fifth place after dressage. Bill Levett is in 50th and =53rd on Improvise and Shannondale Titan respectively. All three of these young horses (this CIC class is for eight- and nine-year-old horses only) are on the EA Australian Futures Squad.
Three horses have withdrawn from this class including Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh.
This class completes with the cross-country phase on Sunday while the CCI 3* showjump in reverse order to decide the winner.
CLICK HERE for CIC 3* Results.
