Rebecca & Rupert earlier this year at The Fork (photo by Samantha)
Well, Blenheim CCI*** XC is about halfway through, and they are trucking on without a lunch break like champs. I’m stuck at my computer continually refreshing my browser on the “live” scores page, but luckily for you, I’m here to give you the break-down of the happenings across the pond.
The course has already claimed it’s fair share of casualties, with quite a few eliminations from some very seasoned riders and a handful of stops here and there. You can also check out the XC fence analysis, which tells you which jumps are causing problems, and who had stops at them. The Olympic magic is fading as several Olympians were eliminated earlier this morning. Caroline Powell, Paul Tapner, Andreas Ostholt, Ingrid Klimke, Tina Cook and Vicky Brake were all beaten out today by a tough XC course.
[Live Scores] [XC Ride Times] [XC Fence Analysis]
Time is tough and near impossible to make, with most competitors having double digits. There have been a few double clears, but very rare. Tim Boland (second after dressage) went clear with 16.8 time penalties to provisionally drop to 4th, while 25th after dressage Cedric Lyard & Cadeau du Roi jumped up to provisional 3rd place with a stunning .4 time penalties. Francis Whittington turned in a double clear to leap from 25th to 2nd, and Oliver Townend currently leads after a .4 time penalty round.
Our North American contingent is holding their own so far, with superstar Rebecca Howard turning in one of the few double clear rounds to jump up from 65th after dressage to provisional 7th! Take that Canadian Olympic juju! Emily Beshear & Here’s To You completed a clear round earlier this morning with 18.8 time penalties. Marilyn Little Meredith suffered at the hands of a tough cross country course and was eliminated near the end of the course. Unfortunately for Rebecca’s teammate, Shandiss, she also fell victim to the XC and was eliminated near the end on the wonderful Rockfield Grant Juan.
Later in the afternoon we’ve got Marilyn’s second ride, RF Smoke on the Water. Also scheduled to ride: dressage leader Chris Burton & Underdiscussion, WFP & Seacookie (rerouted after an unhappy Burghley), and the ever cool Andrew Nicholson. Stay tuned!
[Blenheim FB Page] [Blenheim Twitter] [Continually Updated Pictures from XC]
And this is (almost) completely random, but I heard via a Twitter rumor that Blenheim XC videos will be available in the near future on this website, so I went poking around. They haven’t got a live feed, but they do have a video or two from Barbury, so I thought we’d have a quick reminiscent moment of other fabulous British events that start with “B”. (P.S: Is that a thing? British events starting with B? Think about it.) [Field & Rural Life Barbury Video]
My favorite tweet so far:
Some XC from two years ago, via TheTalkingHorse:
