The schedule for the London Olympics next year has now been released. However, if you have deep pockets and fancy attending as the owner of a Three Day Event Horse with a real shot at a medal, then continue reading.
Clifton Promise, the scopey, bay New Zealand TB who caught the eye of so many last year, when finishing 7th at the World Equestrian Games, is now on the open market.
It was a decision that owner Francis Stead didn’t come to easily, but, due to financial commitments, she is now coming to terms with it:
“The decision to sell Clifton Promise has been a very tough one to take, but if Jock is to achieve his dreams – and I have every confidence that he will – we are both convinced this is the right decision to make. The timing is also right, as Clifton Promise’s new rider will have well over a year to qualify on him before the Olympics.”
I spoke with Eric Duvander and Jock about the decision to sell Clifton Promise. Jock Paget has recently been re-united with Clifton Promise in England, where they are in training with the New Zealand team, and told me: “he’s looking and feeling really good, he’s a little bit fresh, this time of year he’s always a bit fresh at the start of the season but he’s really good.”
Kiwi High Performance Team Leader, Erik Duvander told me that obviously it will be a blow to the squad to lose Clifton Promise, “It’s obviously very unfortunate, but being in the Horse Game for a long time, sometimes it just ends up being that horses become worth a lot of of money and people can’t afford not to cash in on it. “
Obviously the dream solution would be for Clifton Promise to be sold and for Jock to keep the ride, but if this doesn’t happen he has other options. As well as picking up the ride on four prelim-level competition horses in England already, he also has 3 more exciting prospects arriving from the Clifton base in New Zealand next week.
“I still plan on going to the Olympics, I just don’t have a horse yet, and hopefully these three that are coming over from New Zealand (Clifton Razz, Clifton Cognac and Clifton Signature) will be able to take care of the other Championships” (Normandy, Rio). The horses coming over range from CCI * to almost CCI 3* level, and Clifton Cognac is related to Rolex 2010 and WEG silver medalist Cool Mountain.
Erick Duvander is also confident that Jock will represent New Zealand again, “I’ve talked a lot to Jock about it. All the investment and time from the High Performance Program that goes into what Jock does is actually an investment in him, and we hope that he would look back at the end of his career and have had five or six, or eight horses like Clifton Promise in his life, not just the one, we don’t see him as a one-horse wonder.
“We’re looking at the long-term, hopefully there will be something there for the Olympics, but I’m pretty sure there will be something there for the next Championships.”
Jock is determined to make the best of the situation, and perhaps with his teammate, Mark Todd’s influence, he is hoping for a catch ride at Badminton this spring, “I would just love to go to Badminton, I’ve done some catch rides before. I did one at three star level and it went well, and I really enjoyed it. I’d be happy to do it.”
Erik Duvander agrees that they will continue to work with Clifton Promise on the squad until he is sold, “in the end of the day he played a big part of our success at the World Games, and we’re not going to just cut him out. Also a horse isn’t sold until he’s sold, and he’s a part of our program, so we’ll probably find a way around it as such, to maintain Jock in the program, and if it’s with Promise or any other horse, we’ll keep investing in Jock as a rider.”
Clifton Promise will concentrate on his dressage, “the horse has nothing to prove now”, and Jock thinks there’s probably 10 marks improvement to come yet. On the Clifton website, it says that they hope Promise will earn seven figures from a sale. The Kiwi squad will have a clinic with Henk Nooren next week, and there may be another familiar face joining them soon.
Olympic and World Champion Blyth Tait, who hinted that he might come out of retirement for London when I spoke to him last year before the WEG, is indeed trying to make a comeback a reality. He has moved to England, bought a horse and is looking at a couple more.
Next month, Clarke Johnstone and Lizzie Brown are due to arrive in England, which will make for a busy season for Erik Duvander.
