Pippa accepting her trophy
As expected, the cross-country time was tough to make at Barbury and a few seconds were very influential in the top three results. The leader after the show jumping, Laura Collett, picked up 6.0 time penalties with a nice but steady round and she dropped to third. Pippa Funnell took advantage with young Billy Landretti and jumped up one spot by finishing with 3.2 time penalties. Piggy French and Jakata also moved up a spot into second with 2.8 time penalties. Great Britain took home the top 5 spots with Francis Whittington in 4th and William Fox-Pitt finishing 5th aboard Cool Mountain.
Barbury CIC3* Results:
1. Pippa Funnell and Billy Landretti (GBR) +3.2 43.4
2. Piggy French and Jakata (GBR) +2.8 44.0
3. Laura Collett and Rayef (GBR) +6.0 44.8
4. Francis Whittington and Easy Target (GBR) +0 48.8
5. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain (GBR) +4.8 49.4
6. Elizabeth Power and Kilpatrick River (IRL) +0 49.8
7. Will Coleman and Twizzel (USA) +5.2 50.2
8. Andrew Nicholson and Armada (NZL) +0 50.6
9. Kitty King and High Havoc (GBR) +1.2 50.6
10. Lucy Wiegersma and Simon Porloe (GBR) +6.0 52.4
…
Will Faudree and Andromaque (USA) +7.2 88.8
Julian Stiller and Axel Rose (USA) +27.6 92.0
Julian Stiller and Enjoy Me (USA) +50.8 98.8
–The cross-country was slightly anti-climatic because most of the top 10 riders indicated from their chosen pace that they have much bigger goals in mind than winning Barbury–namely the European Championships and Burghley. Pippa, Piggy, Laura, William Fox-Pitt, and Will Coleman in particular looked as though they were working for a steady round rather than to make the time. It’s going to be a tight race down to the wire as to who is selected for the British team at the European Championships in Luhmuhlen at the end of August.
–Billy Landretti is a younger horse who is known for being a bit timid on the cross-country. Pippa put things right in that department today and Billy’s clean round never looked in doubt.
–The cross-country offered mixed results for the United States but I consider the day a net positive. Two of our top horses–the veteran Twizzel and the rising Andromaque had perfect days for what they needed. Twizzel got a chance to stretch his legs and get back in cross-country form after his freak fall at Rolex earlier this year. Andromaque blasted around the course, making it look easy. I helped Will and Nat cool her off and I can’t imagine there is a more confident horse anywhere in the world right now.
–Despite not galloping overly fast, Will Coleman and Twizzel rode efficiently and finished with just 5.2 time penalties and in 7th place. Will competed against the best in the world this weekend and didn’t make it look very difficult to finish in the top 10. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain also looked like they were just cruising around and shocked me by incurring just 4.8 time penalties.
–There were only 4 double-clear rides today. Andrew Nicholson gets the largest stand-off distance award for today by standing a stride off the steeplechase fence at #2 and he galloped home inside the time with Armada. The first rider of the day to make the time was Tim Price of New Zealand with Sporting Here and Tim got a resounding cheer from the crowd as a result. Tim rode around that course like his hair was on fire. The two other pairs to make the time were Elizabeth Power and Kilpatrick River of Ireland and Francis Whittington with Easy Target. Francis finished on his dressage score and in 4th place for Great Britain.
–Julian Stiller got a days worth of a workout from Axel Rose, but they successfully made their way around the course for a clean ride. Lots of half-halting between the fences, a hold on course, and taking the option between the corners at #14 and #15 let to 27 time penalties, but they got around.
–Julian’s other horse, the lovely Enjoy Me, ran by the second narrow wishing well at #5. Elmo’s round got progressively better as they went around. The distance at the well was a long two strides and Julian just over-rode it a bit. Elmo is such a talented horse that when things click on the XC it’s going to be impressive.
–Ireland had a nice day–four Irish riders finished in the top 25. New Zealand finished three in the top 25, as did Australia. The United States and Italy finished one each in the top 25 and Great Britain dominated with 13 in the top 25.
–The one bad part of the day was the number of holds on the cross-country, although it is worth noting that there were over 100 starters. 13 riders were eliminated and 4 retired. Officially there was just one horse fall and 9 rider falls. 12 riders finished with at least a stop. As I noted in an earlier post, the main water jump at #17 was removed after a number of the early horses fell on the drop. The horses seemed to be misreading the water and over-jumping. The jump has been on the Barbury course for 3 years and it is hard to tell why it didn’t work today.
–After the water jump was removed the course started to ride more smoothly. Part of this had to do with the riders being slightly more cautious and taking some options when things were not going smoothly. One of the issues with running XC in reverse order of placing is that the less experienced pairs tend to get bunched at the front of the XC draw order.
–The corners at #14 and #15 continued to cause problems throughout the day and two riders towards the end fell at the alligator in the middle of the first water. One thing that caused maybe more holds on course than anything were broken frangible pins. I would guess 5 pins had to be replaced today but the crew at Barbury switched the pins quickly and efficiently.
–My understanding is that a couple of horses that had falls are getting treated, and we’ll post an injury report when we get one. When there are over 100 starters it’s not going to go well for everyone.
–Barbury will be the final run for the US and British squads before the London Olympics next year–and likely for many other nations as well. Expect Barbury 2012 to be an Olympic preview.
–Rolex *runner-up Mary King and Fernhill Urco were one of a few pairs to fall at the corners at #14 and #15. Mary made up for it with a nice steady round on Kings Temptress, the Rolex champion.
–Barbury might be the best spectating experience I have ever been to at an event. There are numerous hills and sitting locations where you could sit and enjoy a full view of the entire cross-country course. There are nice posh sitting areas and bars for the VIPs and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.
It has been a wonderful weekend at Barbury and I am thankful for the wonderful welcome that everyone in Great Britain has extended to me–such as Mark Todd inviting us for dinner, which I have to run off to now. We’ll have more from Barbury later and, until then, go eventing.
