THE business end of the leaderboard at the 66th running of the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials was all about two of the sport’s leading lights.
New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, riding his top horse Nereo, had the upper hand going into the show jumping – a first for him at this event which he has now completed 35 times without victory.
Britain’s William Fox-Pitt, a winner here in 2004, was lying in second, and a show jumping clear from his stallion Chilli Morning left Nereo with no leeway.
As poles from fence two clattered to the ground, to oohs and aahs from the crowd, yet another fruitless Nicholson challenge ended and Britain could celebrate its first winner since 2009.
“I’m living the dream,” Nicholson had said after the cross-country.
Then at the end of the contest: “I really did think that this was my weekend. But I’ll be back to fight another day.”
Chilli Morning, who was produced by Nick Gauntlett and briefly ridden by Mary King prior to his partnership with Fox-Pitt, rewrote the record books by becoming the first stallion ever to capture a four-star crown. For Fox-Pitt this was a record 14th CCI**** victory.
“It’s a long time since I won [Badminton] with Tamarillo, which makes you realise how hard it is and how many things have to go right. With Andrew Nicholson ahead of us going into the show jumping I thought it was all over as he doesn’t make a mistake very often. Warming up even Ingrid [Klimke] was looking nervous. It wasn’t a very relaxing day,” said Fox-Pitt.
Klimke’s clear round with her new star, Horseware Hale Bob, elevated her into second place, while Jock Paget, who missed Badminton last year due to ongoing legal proceedings over Clifton Promise’s positive dope testing at Burghley 2013, returned to the winners’ enclosure with third aboard Clifton Lush.
IRISH CLIMB
As the drama played out at the top, two Irish riders climbed slowly but surely through the ranks, in part thanks to classy show jumping rounds.
Michael Ryan and Ballylynch Adventure left all the coloured fences intact to finish ninth – a rise of 39 slots on their dressage placing.
Owned by Carol and Tom Henry and Sheila Foley, the 16.1hh Irish Sport Horse gelding is by Don Juan De La Bouverie (SBS) out of Stanman Girl (TB), by Standaan (TB) and was bred by John B Hughes in Co Meath.
One place higher, Aoife Clark and Vaguely North finished eighth after dislodging only the first fence during the final phase.
Clark had been working with show jumper Robert Snaddon over the winter to improve Vaguely North’s final-phase performance.
“This is his weaker phase and it was a big up-to-height track, but the horse really believes that he can do it and he really tried,” said Clark.
“I’m delighted for his owner Henrietta [Duchess of Bedford]. We’ve been a long while coming back here. It was 2011 when he went brilliantly across country but he got a career-threatening injury afterwards.”
For the 15-year-old Ballylynch Adventure, this was a first Badminton.
“I thought it would suit him,” said Ryan. “He’s had injuries in the past and I’m not good at getting horses fit without competitive runs, but I’ve been experimenting with hill cantering. He missed two canters and so he got a bit tired on the way home on Saturday, but overall I’m over the moon with him.”
Joseph Murphy was always playing catch up after scoring 58.4 in the dressage with Sportsfield Othello, who eventually climbed 45 places to 25th, in part thanks to one of 13 cross-country clear rounds within the 11 minutes, 27 seconds optimum time.
“He can behave oddly in an atmosphere,” said Murphy of the flatwork phase. “He got too forward in the canter and I was always clawing back from there. However, he’s such a super cross-country horse and I knew that when we jumped fences two and three we were on.”
Despite a cross-country blip at Belton, their preparatory run for Badminton, Claire Abbott finished on a clean cross-country jumping sheet with Euro Prince, 30th out of the 57 finishers.
“It was our first four-star last year, but this time we went a bit faster and he answered every question,” said Abbott. “He’s like a big rubber ball.”
DISAPPOINTED
Sam Watson and his evergreen Horseware Bushman were 34th, the jockey disappointed with his 16 cross-country time faults.
“We had a moment going into the Mirage Pond. I had to hold on and take the long route and I made the decision then to bring him home safely. I knew that he would prefer softer going, but all in all it was a lovely round and he was a star.”
Camilla Speirs and Portersize Just A Jiff, 40th, marred their cross-country scorecard with a run past at the oxer at fence 25, the Sense Silver Birch complex.
“It was rider error,” explained Speirs. “He wondered why I was still pulling on the reins, waited to see what I wanted, but by then it was too late. We could have been inside the time as he finished full of running.”
Elizabeth Power and September Bliss’s 28 penalties accrued around Kelvin Bywater’s influential 13-fence show jumping track saw them plummet to 45th place on the final day.
The rider had, the day before, successfully contested 20 penalties awarded for a run out at the World Horse Welfare Garden Gates (fence 23) during a storming round when the gelding had been bitted in a cherry roller American gag.
“It’s his special four-star bit. He’s been away from this for two years,” said Power, referring to the horse’s two-year lay-off through injury. “He’s not always that easy as well. He runs numb in the bridle and you just have to go with it.”
Out of eight Irish horses, just one, Joseph Murphy’s second ride Electric Cruise, failed to finish. He was eliminated for three consecutive refusals at the Mirage Pond (fence 18).
ELIMINATED
In all 10 horses were eliminated on course, six retired and five were no shows at Sunday’s final trot-up.
Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s 31-fence cross-country track, his second at this venue, was significantly less technical than his inaugural course last year, which decimated a high proportion of the field.
“The pictures were good and the atmosphere was fantastic,” said Della Chiesa, whose creation was made easier by its anti-clockwise direction this year which saw iconic features such as the Quarry and Huntsmans Close negotiated early on.
Eventing high performance manager Nick Turner said: “Dimensionally the course was still a four-star and there were still places where you could have a silly problem.
“What was most evident was that instead of having specific distances at combinations, this time the distances were more open, thus putting the onus back on the riders.”
Murphy summed up the whole experience: “It’s a privilege to be at Badminton, and to have a horse capable of getting round is always rewarding.”