I’m not quite sure what happened at Pau; I wish there was a John clone so he could personally cover multiple events simultaneously. Alas, we are stuck looking at the scoreboard, using our imagination, and waiting patiently for other news outlets to share full story. I keep refreshing talkinghorse.net because I know the amazing Monty is super-fast at publishing his report.
Cross-country just finished sometime around 11:45am EST. William Fox-Pitt is out for world domination, bringing home all three of his horses clear and inside the time. He currently sits in 2nd, 6th, and 8th. Christopher Burton is in the lead with Holstein Park Leilan, but only by a mere 0.5 point. Mary King retired on Apache Sauce, but is in 11th with Imperial Cavalier…she needs a lot of luck to earn the HSBC title. View the full results here.
From what I could tell watching the live results, many riders this morning had an awful time. Out of the first 30 rides or so, there were only four fault-free rounds. It was looking like dressage scores were going to play very little in the final outcome. But, then something changed about halfway through the entry list…in the second half, more riders got around clear and much closer to the optimum time. I don’t know what was riding badly, but it seems an advantage to go later in the day and learn from earlier mistakes. Of the top 25 placings, only THREE combinations went in the first half– everyone else rode later. Of course, it is also apparent that the latter half is stacked with the world’s greatest riders, which may have something to do with it.
I’ll be back with links to full reports, videos, and photos as they become available. For now, entertain yourself with the results scoreboard:
Top 20
Place / Entry # / Horse / Rider / Country / Dressage Score / XC penalties / Total Score
| 1 | 60 | HOLSTEIN PARK LEILANI | CHRISTOPHER BURTON |  |
43.7 | 0.0 | 43.7 |
| 2 | 40 | OSLO | WILLIAM FOX – PITT |  |
44.2 | 0.0 | 44.2 |
| 3 | 58 | BENDIGO | CLAYTON FREDERICKS | |
43.7 | 1.2 | 44.9 |
| 4 | 75 | MR CRUISE CONTROL | ANDREW NICHOLSON |  |
46.2 | 0.0 | 46.2 |
| 5 | 69 | SIMON PORLOE | LUCY WIEGERSMA | |
45.5 | 0.8 | 46.3 |
| 6 | 74 | LIONHEART | WILLIAM FOX – PITT | |
46.7 | 0.0 | 46.7 |
| 7 | 71 | MR MEDICOTT | FRANK OSTHOLT |  |
47.3 | 0.0 | 47.3 |
| 8 | 68 | HILDAGO DE L’ILE | NICOLAS TOUZAINT |  |
46.3 | 1.2 | 47.5 |
| 9 | 19 | MACCHIATO | WILLIAM FOX – PITT | |
50.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 |
| 10 | 66 | IMPERIAL CAVALIER | MARY KING | |
51.0 | 0.0 | 51.0 |
| 11 | 70 | BEE DIPLOMATIC | NICOLA WILSON | |
53.3 | 0.0 | 53.3 |
| 12 | 48 | BLUE MOSS | SUSANNA BORDONE |  |
52.2 | 1.6 | 53.8 |
| 13 | 11 | DUNGE’S LAURENT ROSE | CLAYTON FREDERICKS | |
54.0 | 0.0 | 54.0 |
| 14 | 50 | HOP AND SKIP | DIRK SCHRADE | |
56.2 | 0.0 | 56.2 |
| 15 | 46 | KOYUNA SUN DANCER | WENDY SCHAEFFER | |
56.7 | 0.0 | 56.7 |
| 16 | 61 | KILFINNIE II | PAUL TAPNER | |
51.8 | 5.6 | 57.4 |
| 17 | 42 | ARMADA | ANDREW NICHOLSON | |
57.2 | 0.4 | 57.6 |
| 18 | 63 | QUICK 2 | HARALD AMBROS |  |
59.3 | 0.0 | 59.3 |
| 19 | 64 | MATELOT DU GRAND VAL | JEAN TEULERE | |
59.5 | 0.0 | 59.5 |
| 20 | 49 | NARCOS DE SOULAC | CEDRIC LYARD | |
48.5 | 12.4 | 60.9 |
1:35pm Edit:
Pippa Roome, at Horse & Hound, reports that the leaderboard could change, depending on an appeal by Clayton Fredericks. Fredericks is protesting his time penalties, due to a steward possibly interfering with his line. A skinny into the second water (Fence 21a) was removed from the course after William’s horse Oslo dragged his hind end through it. WFP has certainly had some hairy rides through water this year– but he’s managed to come out smiling on the other side each time.
2:44pm edit: According to the Horse & Hound, Clayton’s appeal was considered, and his penalties reduced from 2 to 1.2 points. Christopher Burton remains in first place, WFP in second.
