William Fox-Pitt added a surprising 12 faults in the show jumping at Pau to waste a 9.8 point lead and give the victory to Andreas Dibowski and Fantasia of Germany. [Insert cliche about it never being over until it’s over] The show jumping at Pau was wet and 17 of 27 show jumpers added more than 10 penalties on Sunday. Only one pair–Peter Flarup and Silver Ray of Denmark–added less than double-digit penalties to their dressage score over the entire weekend and they moved up from 28th to finish in 4th. More amazingly, Ruth Edge and Two Thyme had a stop on the cross country and still finished in 8th.
Boyd Martin and Remington had four rails and one time to drop from 3rd to 7th. There were only two clean rounds in the Pau show jumping. One thing is clear: Pau rode like one of the toughest jumping four-stars of 2010. The show jumping arena had standing water on it and perhaps the footing contributed to so many show jumping faults. When horses are tired after a long three-day cross-country every little thing becomes much more meaningful.
1. Andreas Dibowski and FRH Fantasia (GER) +0 61.0
2. William Fox-Pitt and Navigator (GBR) +12 63.2
3. Karin Donckers and Charizard (BEL) +8 66.6
4. Kai Ruder and Leprince des Bois (GER) +8 69.4
5. Peter Flarup and Slver Ray (DEN) +4 70.0
6. Gwendolen Fer and Leria du Ter (FRA) +0 72.6
7. Boyd Martin and Remington (USA) +17 76.2
8. Ruth Edge and Two Thyme (GBR) +4 78.2
Link: Full Pau results
Andreas Dibowski is a worthy first time CCI4* champion and is an excellent rider for Germany. Andreas had a long weekend at the WEGs, but this weekend he brought home the second four-star win in a row for Germany. William must be really disappointed, but I am sure he will handle the situation with impeccable class as always. In consolation, William’s second place finish was good enough to give him the HSBC Classics series title and the US$150,000 prize. Personally, I’d rather have the 4* win, but I guess William has quite a few of those in his trophy case already.
Videos courtesy of Pegasus444444
