Classic Eventing Nation

And then there were nineteen. You’d have been forgiven, after watching pathfinder Izzy Taylor‘s laughably easy clear aboard PSH Gazelle, for thinking that Ian Stark had, perhaps, made his Tattersalls CCI4*-L track a bit too doable. But as the afternoon’s action unfurled, and our field of competitors shrunk from 28 to 19, it became clearly evident that only the boldest and bravest would end the day at the upper echelons of the leaderboard.

Will Coleman and Off the Record step into the lead in the CCI4*-L. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

He might be a first-timer at the level, and he may have flown all the way from the States to begin this next, crucial stage of his education, but Will Coleman‘s Off The Record looked a consummate professional around the tough track, jumping clear to finish bang on the optimum time of 10:18. For the ten-year-old gelding, who was sourced just down the road at Richard Sheane’s Wicklow-based Cooley Farm, the trip to Tatts has been something of a homecoming – and it certainly shows. When overnight leaders Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street picked up twenty penalties at the drop element of the four-part mound combination, they moved into an easy lead.

Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“He was great; I thought he did it really easily, and I was really happy with that,” says Will of the young talent, with whom he won the Jersey Fresh CCI4*-S last month. “The course suited my plan, and I wasn’t really surprised by anything out there – he gave me a great round. I was up ten, fifteen seconds most of the way around; I thought, at that point, that I was still tied with Pippa [Funnell and Billy Beware, withdrawn before cross-country], so I thought there wasn’t any point in finishing ten seconds under. So I slowed up towards the finish, but I nearly overdid it. [My wife] Katie was really worried that I’d maybe slowed up too much, but thankfully we finished dead on it! He’s a real bulldog; he loved every minute of it.”

Top position at Tattersalls is a familiar position for Will, who came achingly close to a win in last year’s CCI4*-L aboard OBOS O’Reilly. Just a single pole on the last day precluded the victory, and instead, they had to settle for fifth – but for all his relative inexperience, Off the Record is an impressive showjumper, with plenty of clear rounds across his international record.

Michael Owen and Jims Pal climb six places to sit second overnight. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Problems scattered across Ian Stark’s track, on which the coffin at 13ABC proved enormously influential, set in motion a seismic shift across the rest of the leaderboard, with some vastly experienced combinations pulling up and other competitors making fortuitous climbs. British rider Michael Owen stepped from eighth into second place overnight aboard Jims Pal. Though the thirteen-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding has been contesting this level since 2017, he’s yet to break into the top ten on a final leaderboard – and Michael will need to work hard tomorrow to stop the gelding from sending a handful of rails flying.

Pathfinders Izzy Taylor and PSH Gazelle record one of four double-clears, propelling them to third place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Izzy Taylor was first out of the box with PSH Gazelle, and she also recorded the fastest round of the day, finishing seven seconds inside the optimum time. This is a debut CCI4*-L for the eleven-year-old, who was produced to three-star by Michael Jackson (no, not that one). The mare’s efforts allowed her to climb from eleventh to third overnight, putting Izzy – who won this class last year with Call Me Maggie May – within touching distance of a repeat victory.

Dan Jocelyn and Blackthorn Cruise stay in fourth place after adding just 3.6 time faults across the country. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn and Blackthorn Cruise evidently felt quite comfortable in fourth place, and there they stayed – they added 3.6 time penalties after an easy spin around the course. The ten-year-old gelding stepped up to this level last season, jumping clear around Bramham’s CCI4*-S course, but picking up 20 penalties in his first CCI4*-L at Boekelo. He’s not been a particularly quick horse thus far in his career, and so his round today shows promise for a bright future.

Cross-country dynamo Millie Dumas records a fast clear with Fabian, moving up to fifth place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British up-and-comer Millie Dumas was the only British Eventing competitor to record fifty consecutive cross-country clears in 2018, and the quiet achiever demonstrated why again today, piloted Fabian around the track with a nurturing determination. Though they added 2.4 time penalties, the nine-year-old gelding was able to move up four places to sit fifth overnight, putting the pair 1.9 points ahead of the best-placed Irish combination, Esib Power and Samuel Thomas II. Their double clear catapulted them from 21st place after dressage to overnight sixth – an exciting stepping stone in the new partnership between Esib, who splits her time between top-level eventing and top-level showjumping, and Samuel, who was produced to five-star by Oliver Townend.

Esib Power confirms her reputation as one of the fastest cross-country riders in the world with a blazing round aboard Samuel Thomas II. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tina Cook and Killadeas relinquished their hold on fifth place, moving down to seventh with 6.4 time penalties. But Tina, who has been carefully producing the talented, under-the-radar gelding, was thrilled with her horse’s performance, effusively praising him at the finish.

Tina Cook and Killadeas slip from fifth to seventh after adding 6.4 time penalties. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Overnight leaders Pippa Funnell and MGH Grafton Street were the most high-profile combination to come to grief on course: they added twenty jumping penalties and 16.4 time to slip down to fifteenth place. Two riders were eliminated; Melissa Townshend fell from Chapeau at the first element of the coffin, while Lauren Blades and Jemilla were eliminated for missing fence eight. A further seven riders opted to retire on course, including Laura Collett, who ran into trouble at both the coffin and the Horse Sport Ireland water with Dacapo. Kazuma Tomoto, too, put his hand up after Bernadette Utopia took offence to the coffin, while Ludwig Svennerstal called it a day when Salunette opted out of jumping the big log drop into the HSI water.

Tomorrow, our nineteen remaining competitors head into the showjumping finale, which kicks off at 3.30 p.m. BST/10.30 a.m. EST.

The top ten after a hugely influential cross-country phase in the Irish Field CCI4*-L at Tattersalls.

Tim Price Holds CCI4*-S Lead

The CCI4*-S field – whittled down to sixteen starters after the withdrawal of Tina Cook and Calvino II – faced a tough showjumping challenge in the Colm Quinn main arena today, but yesterday’s leaders proved unassailable, despite adding 1.2 time faults.

Tim Price and Ascona M. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“She’s not the most orthodox horse – she throws her heart over the fence first, which is great if you can channel it, but it means you can’t nip around like some of the other horses can,” says Tim Price of the opinionated Ascona M, with whom he heads into tomorrow’s cross-country on a two-phase score of 27.10. This puts him 2.7 penalties – or six seconds – ahead of second-placed Kazuma Tomoto and Vinci de la Vigne JRA, who delivered the round of the day to finish as one of just five combinations inside the time.

Kazuma Tomoto and new ride Vinci de la Vigne JRA. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Only five riders stayed on their dressage scores today, while just seven left all the poles in the cups. Alex Bragg produced two of those five completely fault-free rounds, which was enough to allow Zagreb to hold onto third place and the former Jonelle Price ride Hester to climb from thirteenth to eighth.

Alex Bragg and Zagreb. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The best-placed Irish rider, Sam Watson, very nearly managed the feat too, delivering clear rounds with both Imperial Sky and Tullabeg Flamenco, but adding just 1.2 time penalties aboard the latter. They sit in fifth and seventh overnight, respectively, just below fourth-placed Millie Dumas and KEC Deakon, and creating some sort of Irish sandwich (potato bread, anyone?) with Mary King, who holds onto sixth place aboard her homebred King Robert.

Sam Watson and every girl’s dream pony, Tullabeg Flamenco. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tomorrow sees the CCI4*-S competition head into its final phase, a shortened version of today’s tough track. Will we see it separate the men from the boys again? And where can I actually get some potato bread, now that I mention it? Stay tuned to find out.

The top ten going into tomorrow’s cross-country finale in the George Mernagh Memorial CCI4*-S.

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Greenery and good horses: welcome to Fairyhouse Racecourse. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s something about Tattersalls. Even when the wind is blowing – and boy, is it blowing – and a cluster of foreboding clouds jostle for prime position over the main arena, it’s possessed of a (blustery) air of good sport and great craic. Plus, frankly, it’s just rather pretty.

With yesterday’s CCI4*-L competitors enjoying a well-earned break, our focus today shifts over to the CCI4*-S. Though the entry list has shrunk down to just seventeen competitors, it’s a classy field chock-full of experienced five-star combinations and red-hot up-and-comers.

Tim Price and Ascona M eclipse the competition in the George Mernagh Memorial CCI4*-S. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

If you’d wanted to place a bet on it beforehand, though, you’d have been hard-pressed to get any odds worth emptying your wallet for. Tim Price becomes our newly-minted World Number One tomorrow, and to say that our reigning Burghley champion is on form would be to utter an egregious understatement. Here at Eventing Nation, we really only deal in overexcited hyperbole. But although we could wax lyrical about Tim’s achievements all afternoon, we have to make note of Ascona M, too. The eleven-year-old Holsteiner mare (Cassaro Z x Naomi IV) is still a relatively new ride for Tim; he first took the reins in 2017, when wife Jonelle was sidelined on maternity leave. Then, the fiery mare went back upon her return – but mid-way through the 2018 season, Jonelle decided to let Tim take over again. Since then, the pair have been on the up and up – they scored a hugely competitive 25.3 at Pau, although an unfortunate stumble after an exuberant jump into the water put paid to their campaign. Today, they very nearly equalled it, putting a 25.9 on the board to take the lead by a significant margin.

“She’s such a quality mare; she’s a winner at home every day of the week. But saying that, she can be radical as well, being a lovely … mare,” Tim says with a grin. Today, though, ‘Ava’ kept her opinions to herself, fairly floating around the arena as we saw her do in her five-star debut at Pau last season. Though she stands a fighting chance here, it’s not a major goal: instead, it’s all useful preparation for her return to the top level at Luhmühlen.

“That felt like a really good thing to have in the back of my head – the fact that she was rideable, the fact that she stayed in front of me, and the fact that she just went through the motions. She’s feeling the best she ever has this year, especially as this is the first season I’ve had from January. I think that’s really benefited us.”

Occasionally radical: Ascona M is on best behaviour to take the lead with Tim Price. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The primary benefit of this extra time together is manifesting itself in the mare’s rideability. Although Ava is a naturally elegant mover, and though she seems to find the work incredibly easy, it’s not a push-button job to produce the goods.

“She’s sensitive and a little bit outrageous,” explains Tim. “Her reaction to something she detests is big. For example, with the flying changes, she can claim that she never saw that aid coming, and what the hell were you thinking?! She’ll throw herself into the air, and there’ll just be legs everywhere. So you say, okay, no worries girl, and a couple of minutes later, she’ll do them perfectly. I won’t have done anything different, but she’ll have taken it better. I have to be the diplomat in the relationship!”

Kazuma Tomoto and new ride Vinci de la Vigne put the pressure on the leaders. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After clinching overnight third place in yesterday’s CCI4*-L class, Japan’s Kazuma Tomoto returned today firing on all cylinders. This time, he rode new mount Vinci de la Vigne JRA (Esterel de Bois x Korrigane de la Vigne), the ten-year-old Selle Français with whom France’s Astier Nicolas finished seventh at last year’s World Equestrian Games. Vinny was purchased by the Japan Racing Association at the end of last season as part of the country’s quest to take top honours in next year’s Olympics – and though it’s a new one, the partnership has been quietly impressive so far. Kazu and Vinny finished sixth and second, respectively, in three-star competitions at Belton and Ballindenisk, and though this will be their debut four-star together, they’ve started it in a competitive position.

Their score of 29.8 might seem a long way behind that of the leaders, but the margin of 3.9 comes a hair’s breadth away from giving Tim a rail in hand going into tomorrow’s competition. Now, he’ll need to make sure all the poles stay up if he wants to hold his lead while Kazu, whose overarching goal is to qualify his four horses for next year’s Games, can focus on the task at hand without feeling an enormous amount of pressure.

Alex Bragg and debutante King of the Mill. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

He may well feel some from his nearest rival, though. Alex Bragg and Zagreb (Perion x Renera) sit just a tenth of a penalty behind Kazu and Vinny on a score of 29.9, giving Alex early momentum in a class in which he has three horses entered. Michael and Naomi Roe’s King of the Mill (Stormhill Miller x Ballycanew Queen) sits in ninth place overnight on a score of 36.1, while Lucy Nelson’s Hester succumbed to the vibrant atmosphere in the main arena and waits in the wings on 41, putting her in 13th place.

“Zagreb was great, actually – I’ve been trying to wait for the summer, but I seem to be following this wet, breezy weather around,” joked Alex whose top horse, much like one EN reporter, performs at his best in milder weather. “He had a little spook at the camera at the end of the arena in the counter-canter work, which was a shame, for one small mistake – but other than that he was super, as always.”

Though Zagreb – known at home as Rhett – is the much-deserved subject of our endless poster-boy adulation, it’s exciting to see Alex methodically building up a great string of up-and-comers. Both of the younger horses entered in this class are level debutantes: nine-year-old King of the Mill has just three international runs under his belt, while eight-year-old Hester has five, though she racked up considerable international showjumping experience with her prior rider Jonelle Price.

Alex Bragg and the former Jonelle Price ride Hester. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I brought them over here for the cross-country, actually – I know it’s big and bold, and Ian Stark always builds it that way, but I’ve always felt that horses come back from it feeling really confident, and then they go on to do well through the year,” explains Alex. “The main arena, too, has enough of an atmosphere that it tests them out a bit and gives them some experience there. Hester is a young eight-year-old, and she got a bit lively – she has a bit of a history of that, and it did, unfortunately, tip her over today. King of the Mill has always been a bit of an anxious horse, but he’s gone in there and been incredibly professional. He’s very Thoroughbred-y, so he lacks some of the softness of movement of some of the cross-bred horses that are more expressive, but his main feature is his gallop and his stamina. This is a stepping stone for him, hopefully, to go onto bigger things this year and next. They’ve been fantastic so far, and it’s wonderful to be here.”

A trio of British women hold fort in the middle of the top ten – Tina Cook and Calvino II sit in provisional fourth place on 30.5, while Millie Dumas makes it a second top-ten appearance in as many days, this time riding KEC Deakon. They sit in fifth on 31.3. Less than a penalty and a half behind them, Mary King and her homebred King Robert lie sixth, posting a 32.7.

Sam Watson and Imperial Sky. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

EquiRatings’ big boss Sam Watson is the highest-placed Irish rider in the class, squeezing both his Luhmühlen-bound horses into the top ten. His Ballindenisk winner Imperial Sky leads the way, holding seventh place on 33.8, while the striking dun Tullabeg Flamenco rounds out the top ten on 37.9, just behind lone French representative Arthur Duffort and Toronto d’Aurois.

The CCI4*-S field looks ahead to showjumping next, which commences at 6.15 p.m. BST/1.15 p.m. EST tomorrow, while the CCI4*-L heads to Ian Stark’s beefy cross-country track at 2.50 p.m. BST/9.50 p.m. You can keep an eye on all the action as it happens through Tattersalls’ live-stream, and we’ll be bringing you all the juicy insight after the fact, right here. Go Eventing!

The top ten after dressage in the George Mernagh Memorial CCI4*-S.

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