The last three show jumpers at Barbury, William rode out of order
With the cross-country scheduled for Sunday afternoon, the Barbury CIC3* competition is very much wide open with the leader board getting tighter in the show jumping. Pippa Funnell and Laura Collett both pulled a rail but maintained the top two positions. Despite the rail, I couldn’t have been more impressed with 21 year old Laura Collett’s ride. After a 6th at Badminton and watching his round today I consider Rayef one of the top 3 horses in the world right now.
Barbury CIC3* Scores Before XC:
1. Laura Collett and Rayef (GBR) +4 38.8
2. Pippa Funnell and Billy Landretti (GBR) +4 40.2
3. Piggy French and Jakata (GBR) +0 41.2
4. Emily Baldwin and Drivetime (GBR) +4 44.6
5. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain (GBR) +0 44.6
6. Will Coleman and Twizzel (USA) +0 45.0
7. Lucinda Fredericks and Flying Finish (AUS) +0 46.0
8. Lucy Wiegersma and Simon Porloe (GBR) +0 46.4
9. Julian Stiller and Enjoy Me (USA) +0 46.4
…
Julian Stiller and Axel Rose (USA) +4 64.4
WIll Faudree and Andromaque (USA) +20 81.6
—The USA had a great Sunday morning. Will Coleman and Twizzel jumped clear to move up into 6th. Will didn’t feel that Twizzel jumped his best, but it is worth pointing out that he hasn’t show jumped since The Fork.
–Julian Stiller and Enjoy me had an absolutely lovely round and everything I have heard about “Elmo” from back in the States seems to be true. Elmo jumped super smooth and looked like he didn’t even have to try. After their round, Julian was rightfully extremely proud. They moved from 15th up to 9th, giving the US two pairs in the top 10 at Barbury–the only nation other than Great Britain to accomplish this.
–Including Andromaque and Axel Rose, the 4 US horses had just 2 rails combined this morning–a very good achievement considering there were only 26 clear rounds out of 109 show jumpers.
–Both Will Coleman and Julian plan to take it easy around this twisty and turny Barbury XC track so the final placings will be pretty irrelevant in terms of the success or failure of the weekend. Two top 10’s in the combined test and finishing with two clear steady rounds would be good enough for a great weekend for the stars and stripes.
–The top 10 pairs at Barbury are separated by less than 10 points, making for an exciting conclusion in the cross-country. The pairs will run in reverse order of placing meaning that Laura and Rayeff will be the last out and they will finish in the main arena with the clock racing.
–Lucinda Fredericks’ Flying Finish is a huge horse that I expected to struggle more with the slippery footing but they had a great round. He’s the type of horse who might do really well next spring but he will be a questionable build for the tight Greenwich Park track.
–Lucy Wiegersma started this year with a big fleet of top horses. After a tough spring it is great to see her back in the top 10 so far here at Barbury.
–The footing continued to be slick in the show jumping. Particularly the roll-back turn between #1 and #2 caused a few slips but by in large people got away with it.
That’s all from the Barbury show jumping. I’ll be back for full cross-country coverage as we crown a Barbury 2011 champion, and then it’s off tonight for my travels back to the States. Go eventing.
