Jock Paget and Clifton Promise at this morning's final horse inspection.
I had intended to bring you a final press conference report much in the spirit of my very accurately subtitled report from yesterday, but I feel Jock’s achievement at Badminton this weekend deserves a more serious approach. To quietly stalk the leaders all weekend — when two of the world’s greatest are battling for a Grand Slam win and Ze Terminator seems to be unstoppable — and ultimately come out on top is an incredible achievement. Jock Paget seemed stunned during the press conference today, almost like he was unable to process exactly how this all happened. The reality is that Jock, who used to work as a brick layer and began riding in his late teens, has done what so many dream of doing but so few achieve. To come to Badminton and win on a first attempt — the first rider to do so since Mark Todd in 1980 — is a heroic feat that will serve as a highlight of his career.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to story lines for this weekend. While Andrew Nicholson jumped a flawless show jumping round with Nereo, his efforts ultimately weren’t enough to catch Jock and Michael Jung, meaning that champagne he sipped during the press conference must have tasted a little flat knowing he’d missed the chance to win $350,000 in the Rolex Grand Slam. But New Zealand’s incredibly strong showing here this weekend is a reminder that you can never underestimate this contingent. In the same light, William Fox-Pitt also missed out on winning the Grand Slam, an outcome he waited two years to see through after Badminton was canceled last year. He pulled a rail on Parklane Hawk at the last element of the triple combination, although a clean trip still wouldn’t have placed him ahead of Jock.
There’s been much talk this weekend about whether this track can truly be considered a tried and true Badminton course, with Mark Todd most notably comparing it to a three-star course with a few four-star questions thrown in. The course was designed last year by Hugh Thomas to serve as a selection trial for the London Olympics. As Badminton ended up being canceled due to record rain fall in the UK, only a few minor changes were made to the course. Most notably, the Mirage Pond was significantly altered and claimed quite a few riders with its new design. While I’m certainly not a course design expert, I did walk Rolex last weekend and Badminton this weekend, so I’d like to think I can offer some perspective on the matter at hand.
I think this year’s Badminton track was definitely a technical challenge. While the course is relatively flat and the going was easy thanks to fantastic course maintenance, footing and good English weather, the technical questions were piled one on top of the other, and the huge efforts required a very fit horse to get around. When you consider that Savills’ Staircase — a practically vertical ascension up two big steps with two or three quick strides to a skinny — was placed as fence 22 of 30 on course, it puts into perspective just how fit horses needed to be to get around this track safely. And we certainly didn’t see clear rides from all the usual pairs. This course caught out Michael Jung, Mary King, Dirk Schrade, Zara Phillips and Bettina Hoy; need I say more?
To be clear, I don’t think the 85-percent completion rate on this year’s Badminton course should in any way diminish the achievement of pairs who came home safely this weekend. Most of all, we should be incredibly proud of our North American pairs, all of whom jumped clean with minimal time penalties. Let’s break it down: Clark Montgomery safely took Universe around the horse’s first four-star. Colleen Rutledge became the first rider in history to complete five of the world’s six CCI4* events on the same horse. Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master had just .8 time penalties and ultimately finished the weekend in 12th place. And although Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister had two rails today, they looked superb yesterday across country and will continue to build their partnership with a bright future ahead. To put it simply, this weekend was an undisputed success for North American eventing.
We now know Michael Jung is beatable — something I think we all questioned after the first three days of competition at Badminton — and it was actually refreshing to see a vulnerable moment from him during the final press conference when he said he simply did not know what happened with Sam at the final fence in the show jumping. While Michael has deservedly sat on the throne in his eventing kingdom for many years, the door may be opening for a new pair to step into the spotlight. We saw so many talented pairs this weekend who could easily be the world’s next superstars — Vittoria Panizzon and Sandra Auffarth come to mind — and it’s exciting to speculate about who will rise to the occasion. For now, Jock Paget can revel in the fact that he dethroned the very best riders in the world this weekend. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Go Jock, and go eventing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmhsbGnMd78
Final press conference video
