Paul Tapner and Kilronan are your leaders after cross country at Badminton. Photo courtesy of Nico Morgan Photography.
Holy Badminton. Giuseppe Delle Chiesa’s new cross-country course was unveiled under what can only be described as miserable British weather, and the conditions affected the footing greatly, which ultimately impacted how many pairs completed the track.
With the dust settled, Paul Tapner, who led after the first day of dressage with Kilronan, is back on top of the leaderboard after an unbelievable day of cross country. Despite picking up 20.4 time penalties, Paul and Kilronan pulled off the top score of 56.4 thanks to being one of 21 clear rounds out of the 78 who set out on course.
Indeed, it was a wild ride today — as evidenced by the fact that it took more than two hours for the officials to confirm the scores due to all the protests lodged by the riders, which is why I’m bringing this report to you much later than I intended.
Between riders who missed a flag or took a creative approach to an alternate route, there was much for the ground jury to sort through, so let’s break down the most notable problems on course. From looking at the live scores, you’ll notice some very big names who either retired or were eliminated on course.
Mark Todd and NZB Campino, who were in fifth place after dressage, parted ways at the Shogun Hollow, and Toddy actually fell on top of the fence, which he used as a mounting block to hop back on the horse to start the long walk back to stabling. William Fox-Pitt, in seventh place with Parklane Hawk after dressage, fell at the Countryside Hedges just two questions from home.
And as if that alone didn’t mean the world was ending, Andrew Nicholson parted ways from Nereo at the Gatehouse New Pond at 14b, the only rider to have trouble at that complex all day. Mary King didn’t fare any better with Imperial Cavalier; she retired after a runout at the Mirage Pond.
That leaves us with an eclectic top 10, with Tim Price moving all the way up from 41st place after dressage to second place thanks to jumping clear with 11.6 time penalties — the closest anyone came to making time today — on a score of 61.6. French rider Pascal Leroy is in third with Minos de Petra on a score of 62.5, moving up from 30th after dressage.
Oliver Townend is the highest placed British rider after cross country with Armada on a score of 62.7, moving up from 34th after dressage; Sam Griffiths and Paulank Brockagh round out the top five on 63.9
Thirty-five of the 78 riders who set out on course came home; that’s a completion rate of 45 percent. Just one of our North American pairs made it home, and even then it was an uphill battle. Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister were ultimately the only pair to complete for the home team with two stops and 25.6 time penalties, which still puts them in 29th place.
Tiana was originally assessed a runout at 23c, the second corner at the incredibly challenging combination Huntsmans Close, and then a second runout for missing a flag on the direct route at Vicarage Vee.
Clark Montgomery and Universe were the first out for Team USA, and they set out at a cracking pace as one of the first to tackle the course. Buzz bounced around like he was playing with the track, but the tacky footing and size of the challenge left him on empty at Huntsmans Close, and Clark retired after the horse ran past 23b. Had he gone out later on course, I’m sure he would have gone around much slower, as Paul and Kilronan did successfully.
He also retired at the same fence with overnight leader Loughan Glen. They actually had quite a long hold on course about halfway through after Nicola Wilson broke a frangible pin with Beltane Queen. But Glen still ran out of steam, unfortunately.
Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master also broke a frangible pen at fence 7 at the Team GBR Silver Birch when Rupert hit the back log hard with his back legs. They recovered well through The Lake and Outlander Bank and looked to be back on form, but then parted ways at the Mirage Pond, which caused a lot of problems throughout the day.
Peter Atkins and Henry Jota Hampton, our honorary North American pair, retired after Henny ran out at the B element after the keyhole at the Outlander Bank. Peter re-presented at a very severe angle and then retired when Henny stopped a second time.
There’s much, much more that happened today, and I recommend checking out my open thread, where I kept a running commentary of all the action for the duration of cross country.
Some key numbers to take away: zero riders made the time, 22 riders jumped clear, 12 riders completed with one or more refusals, 25 riders were eliminated on cross country, 18 riders retired on cross country and five withdrew before cross country. While the course rode very tough, all horses and riders walked away without any serious injuries, mercifully.
Scores have STILL not been posted on the Badminton website, so please enjoy the terrible iPhone photos of the official score sheets from the press tent below.
Photos of all our North Americans and the top rides are available courtesy of Nico Morgan, so please show him how grateful we are by liking his Facebook page and checking out the full gallery of his shots from today on his website here. Video of Paul and Tim’s comments from the press conference is coming your way next. Stay tuned for more from Badminton.
Badminton Links: [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores] [Course Preview] [EN’s Coverage] [Dressage Results] [How To Watch Live] [@EventingNation]
