Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo clinched the win with a beautiful clear round in show jumping.
Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo came into the Rolex stadium with two rails in hand, but ultimately didn’t need it, as the pair put in one of just five clear rounds of the day and added three time faults to clinch the victory. Show jumping proved to be very influential, with the last jump serving as the bogey fence, coming down more than any other jump today. But Quimbo didn’t touch any rails and jumped like he wasn’t fatigued in the slightest after his double clear cross-country trip yesterday. Andrew’s win here at Rolex this weekend creates an unprecedented situation we may never see again in the history of eventing, as Andrew and William Fox-Pitt will now battle it out for the Rolex Grand Slam next weekend at Badminton.
William finished in second place with Seacookie TSF after jumping double clear despite breaking a finger on his left hand in the show jumping. This pair also jumped double clear yesterday on cross country and looked very good today. The horse looked a bit tired coming through the Calumet triple combination, but William is one of the best show jumping riders in the world and knows exactly how to coax a tired horse home on show jumping day. This was not the weekend William envisioned, as he also came to Rolex with Chilli Morning and led the dressage overnight coming into cross country. But after retiring Chilli early on in the course, William opened up room for Andrew to slip by with Quimbo. Andrew also finished in third place with Calico Joe despite pulling three rails in show jumping, an outcome Andrew said could happen in yesterday’s press conference. While show jumping isn’t this horse’s strong suit, it still says a lot that Andrew was able to drop three poles and still take third place.
William Fox-Pitt and Seacookie TSF finished in second place.
Buck Davidson had a fantastic weekend overall, but unfortunately struggled today in show jumping, pulling two rails with all three of his rides. After two knockdowns at two of the three jumps in the last line with Ballynoe Castle RM — who was sitting in third place coming into today — Buck left the arena looking gutted. But the crowd still showed him an incredible amount of love, and Buck still finishes as the highest-placed American rider in fourth place with Reggie. Buck also finished in ninth place with Mar De Amor and 22nd with Park Trader — definitely a result to be proud of. If it’s any consolation for Buck, he’ll have a two-year lease on a Land Rover Evoque thanks to coming home closest to optimum time yesterday on cross country and winning the Land Rover Ride of the Day.
Lynn Symansky and Donner had the weekend of a lifetime, finishing in fifth place in the horse’s first trip to Rolex with a fantastic clear show jumping round. While Lynn was a bit disappointed after her dressage test, she didn’t let that faze her going into cross country yesterday, where she finished double clear despite riding with her right hand in a cast due to a spiral fracture in her pinkie. She raised “the claw” — as she’s been calling her hand — to the very enthusiastic crowd when she came home clear, and she sported a million-dollar smile when she came through the in-gate. Donner is quite simply a horse for the future, and we will be seeing much more from him. He’s also one of three Thoroughbreds to finish in the top six, the others being Calico Joe and Pawlow. Although Will Faudree pulled a rail with Pawlow, he still had an excellent weekend and very quietly stalked the leaders all weekend. He brought Ernie around cross country yesterday with a smooth trip, picking up 6.4 time penalties to move into fifth. While he dropped a rail today to drop one place to finish in sixth, this was still a super weekend for this pair.
Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM finished in fourth place.
Canada had a great day, with Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice finishing as the highest-placed Canadian pair in seventh place. Hawley had one of the only five clear trips this afternoon, and considering the explosive cheer she received upon crossing the finish line, you would’ve think she’d won the whole thing. Hawley took a celebratory gallop past the grandstand with a very excited Ginny doing airs above the ground. Hawley and Ginny won the hearts of the Rolex crowd on Saturday by energetically flying around the cross-country course. Ginny proved that yesterday’s brilliance was no fluke, and they moved up four places into seventh. Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott delivered the first clear trip of the day and also received a lot of support from the crowd. Peter and Eddie moved up eight places from 25th into 17th — more than any other pair today — thanks to their double-clear trip.
Kristi Nunnink and R-Star finished in eighth place after dropping one rail. The mare jumped beautifully today despite the rail, and she also looked fantastic on cross-country yesterday, pulling Kristi around and absolutely eating up the course. Crowd favorites Peter Atkins and Henry Jota Hampton — the only pair competing for Australia this weekend — came oh so close to having a clear trip today, but pulled the final rail. The crowd still showed Peter and Henny a lot of love, and they finished the weekend in 10th place after jumping clear on cross country yesterday and coming home with just 1.6 penalties. In a very touching moment, Peter gave Henny a huge hug after hopping off at the in-gate, showing just how much this horse means to him.
Lynn Symansky and Donner finished in fifth place.
There were five clear rides this afternoon out of 29 pairs — Andrew Nicholson and Quimbo, William Fox-Pitt and Seacookie TSF, Lynn Symansky and Donner, Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice, and Peter Barry with Kilrodan Abbott. There were just four double-clears in the show jumping, with Quimbo finishing three seconds over the optimum, likely spending a few extra seconds as he cleared each fence by inches. Seven pairs had just one rail. Four other pairs incurred time penalties. The U.S. only had one of five double-clears, despite starting the day with just over half of the show jumpers. Canada was the only country with more than one double-clear show jumping round. Breaking down the results by country, New Zealand dominated with Andrew Nicholson finished with two horses in the top three. Great Britain claimed second with William and Seacookie TSF’s performance. The U.S. finished five pairs in the top 10, Canada had Hawley Bennett-Awad and Ginny, and Peter Atkins and Henny gave Australia one pair in the top 10 with 10th place.
Only two pairs finished on their dressage score — William Fox-Pitt and Seacookie TSF and Lynn Symansky and Donner. William and Seacookie moved up from 10th to second on a perfect weekend of jumping, and Lynn Symansky and Donner moved up from 19th to fifth. Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice moved all the way up from 29th to seventh by adding just one second on the cross country to their dressage score. Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Eagle moved up 23 places to 11th with just a rail added for their weekend’s work. James Alliston and Parker moved up an impressive 36 places with just a rail today and a double-clear yesterday to finish in 14th place; he also finished in 23rd with Jumbo’s Jake.
It was a wild weekend here at Rolex, and things are only going to get more interesting going forward this week as we prepare for a showdown at Badminton between William Fox-Pitt and Andrew Nicholson. William joked at the press conference that Michael Jung would win anyway, so there was no use predicting a battle for the Rolex Grand Slam, but it will be a very exciting week nonetheless. Stay tuned for a full report from the Rolex press conference with William, Andrew and Buck, as well as a lot more photos from show jumping today at Rolex. Go eventing.
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