Aoife Clark and and Master Crusoe are tied for fourth place on a 45.8.
Aoife Clark and Master Crusoe gave a lovely finale to Day 1 at the Badminton Horse Trials, performing a rhythmic, consistent test for a 45.8 to tie William Fox-Pitt and Oslo for fourth place. This pair placed seventh individually at London — performing one of just a handful of double-clear show jumping rounds — and are a real threat to finish right up there with the leaders at the conclusion of the competition. I thought their trot work was especially good, and Aiofe received wonderful support from the crowd upon finishing her test. We also saw crowd favorites Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz in the final group of the day, who scored 48.2 to tie for 11th place with Jock Paget and Clifton Lush. The judges have been very stingy with flying changes today — we’ve seen a lot of 4s — but Nicola nailed them and was rewarded for her efforts. This horse commonly leads off for Great Britain in major team championships, so you can expect to see a thrilling performance from Nicola and Opposition Buzz on Sunday.
Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon are sitting in 13th place on a 48.3.
Kai Ruder and Leprince Des Bois led off the fourth and final group of riders for the day, putting in a very solid, correct test to move into 10th place on a 47.8. Kai was one of the riders to suffer a 4 from the judges on one of his flying changes, but overall the test was very good. Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon — Thailand’s Nina Ligon’s mount for the London Olympics — also had a lovely performance to sit in 13th place on a 48.3. Andreas has placed second twice at Badminton, includingonce with this horse, and should be very competitive on the cross country. Butts Leon gave the crowd a bit of a scare when he pulled a Black Stallion-esque rear leaving the stadium as Joseph Murphy was entering to perform his test, but Andreas stayed on, thankfully. Louisa Milne Home bought King Eider as a 4-year-old and has produced him all the way through the levels. While they’ve completed Burghley twice, this is their first attempt at Badminton, and they looked in fine form today. Louisa and King Eider are sitting tied for 17th place on a 53.8.
Louisa Milne Home and King Eider are tied for 17th place on a 53.8.
At the end of Day 1, 37% of the dressage tests cracked the 40s, with no riders yet venturing into the 30s. But with some of the world’s best still to come tomorrow — La Biosthetique Sam FBW, Nereo and Pawklane Hawk to name a few — it’s safe to say we’re going to see some very good scores. The top 10 so far is comprised of three Brits: William Fox-Pitt and Oslo tied for fourth, with Mary King and Imperial Cavalier and Lucy Wiegersma and Simon Porloe both tied for seventh; two Australians: Christopher Burton and Holstein Park Leilani and Sam Griffiths and Happy Times sitting in first and second, respectively; two for Germany: Michael Jung and Leopin FST in sixth and Kai Ruder and Leprince Des Bois in 10th; one for New Zealand: Andrew Nicholson and Avebury; one for Ireland: Aoife Clark; and one for Italy: Vittoria Panizzon. Stay tuned for a report from the press conference.
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Dressage Videos:
Video: Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz
Video: Andreas Dibowski and Butts Leon
