IT’S not over ‘til it’s over, as the saying goes and this certainly rang true at Pau over the weekend, when the final show jumping phase had a major impact on the placings.
New Zealander Tim Price eventually came out on top with Jarillo, an 11-year-old KWPN gelding by Dantos, when their clear show jumping round secured them first place and the generous winner’s prize of €50,000 on a final score of 30.9.
“With Jarillo, all you have to do is lower your heels and put your legs in, and he jumps,” said Price, who was winning the sixth five-star of his career.
“He’s still inexperienced at this level, but this is his third five-star event and he’s finished them all. When I walked the course, I thought it was tough. There were 10 of us within four points of each other, the time allowed was tight, so it was a course for the best horses and the best riders.
“That’s what we want in this type of competition at this level: no single test determining the final ranking. There were a lot of changes between the dressage, cross-country and show jumping, and that’s what’s great about this sport.”
The runner-up spot and €30,000 went to Tom Jackson (GBR) on the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Plot Twist B (Plot Blue x Concorde), bred by Etter Sportfferde AG in Co Offaly. They also kept a clean sheet in the show jumping to finish on 33.2.
Not far behind in third was another Irish Sport Horse, namely the 11-year-old gelding Cooley Nutcracker [previously Ballyshan Contender] (Tolan R x Cobra), bred by Gary Doherty. Ridden by Boyd Martin (USA), the pair added a mere 0.4 time penalties to their score to finish on 33.9 and take home €20,000 in prize money.
There was another Irish Sport Horse in the top 10, when Dirty Old Town (Cruisings Ambassador (ISH) x Puissance [TIH]), a 10-year-old gelding bred by Michael Byrne, was ridden into eighth place by Astier Nicolas (FRA) on a final score of 35.2.
Padraig McCarthy and Lady Ophelia finished best of the Irish in 15th place, when adding four jumping faults and 0.8 for time to finish on 44.9.
Drama filled
Five-star international horse trials are few and far between - there are only seven events worldwide, with Les 5 Etoiles de Pau the only one in France, and as such, it attracts the world’s best horses and riders.
Of the 53 starters at this year’s renewal, there were two Irish riders, McCarthy and Alice Copithorne, with three mounts between them - two of whom were Irish Sport Horses. McCarthy rode two horses, Lady Ophelia and MGH Mr Messack (ISH), while Copithorne rode Fort Arthur Little Dolly (ISH), but there were an incredible 22 other Irish Sport Horses in attendance.
Two of these were in the top three following the dressage phase, with Oliver Townend (GBR) on Ballaghmor Class (ISH) sitting joint second with Tom McEwen (GBR) on Brookfield Quality (ISH), both on a score of 26.1%. Their team mate Bubby Upton (GBR) took the lead after the first phase riding Cannavaro, when they scored 25.6.
Shake up
The cross-country really shook things up, with Sarah Bullimore (GBR) on Corimiro going clear and moving into first place on their dressage score of 30.0%. Upton was relegated to second place with Cannavaro, when they picked up 4.8 time penalties across the country to put them on a score of 30.4, just ahead of New Zealand’s Tim Price on Jarillo, who added 4.4 cross-country time penalties to their dressage score of 26.5 to move them to third place on a total of 30.9 at that stage.
McEwen and Brookfield Quality retired on the cross-country course, while Townend and Ballaghmor Class picked up 11 penalties when activating a MIM clip at fence 21c and added just 1.2 time faults but that moved them to 19th, just ahead of McCarthy and Lady Ophelia, leading Irish combination after cross-country, in 20th place on a score of 40.1.
Both Irish riders completed this five-star challenge, with McCarthy placing 28th on his other mount, MGH Mr Messack, while Copithorne and Fort Arthur Little Dolly finished in 33rd position.