Aussie James Paterson Robinson had completed his round with four faults, and had noted the raucous arena at Greenwich; “There was a lot of noise,” he said afterwards, in slight frustration. The rowdy atmosphere could certainly make or break a showjumping round here, if a horse lost focus.
James experiences a noisy London crowd.
Edwina Tops Alexander went onto ride the first clear for Australia today at Greenwich, and, at the time of her round, was one of only four riders to go through with no penalties. With a text book performance, the crowd went wild to see a master in action – she made it look easy.
Last to go for Australia was Matt Williams with Watch Me, who was having a foot perfect round before the horse quietly knocked some bricks from the London bus fence before rapping down the Downing Street jump – this left Matt on a score of 12.
A stand out round today came from Saudia Arabia’s Kamal Bahamdan, riding Noblesse Des Tess; Kamal is a successful businessman in America and has trained with Jan Tops. Kamal had been due to ride the former New Zealand horse Delphi, bred by former leading show jumper Jeff McVean, who represented Australia at three Olympic Games - however Noblesse Des Tess was said to be chosen over Delphi at warm up stage. (Thanks to our 'poster' Jane for commenting on this; we feel the disaapointment of the Kiwis!)
Alberto Michan Halbinger for Mexico also impressed, with the 11 year old Rosalia, going clear with zero penalties.
No victory for Tiffany
A bit of under-the-radar drama occurred when Canadian Tiffany Foster, head trainer at Eric Lamaze’s stables, was disqualified just before her round after a hypersensitivity ruling concerning a small cut on her horse’s leg that deemed Victor “unfit to compete” by the ground jury.
She lodged a protest but decisions on injuries cannot be overturned. The Federation Equestre International [FEI] said: "The Canadian horse Victor, ridden by Tiffany Foster, has been disqualified under the FEI's hypersensitivity protocol due to an area of clear and obvious hypersensitivity on the front of the left forelimb. There is no accusation of malpractice.” Canadian team manager Terrance Miller was said to be very unhappy with the decision.
Saudis rule
Saudia Arabia was a force to be reckoned with today, leading at the end of play with one point. A rumoured US $100m has been pledged to take the team to the top of their sport; the efficient ‘Saudi Equestrian’, which acquires and owns showjumpers for the country's international riders, runs a fabulous international operation that places horses and riders in training across Europe.
So, in a day full of flying poles and changeable weather, Australia lies in joint tenth place with Germany. The team placings after today see Saudia Arabia in the lead with one penalty; Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland are in joint second with four penalties. We look forward to seeing if the Saudis continue to dominate, as the action continues next week!
