The look of love: overnight leaders Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Hello, it’s me, your roving meteorologist, reporting live from Pau to tell you that if there’s a trot-up going on, there’s a 100% chance it’s raining harder than you previously thought possible, even if it’s been blazingly sunny all morning. I’m not bitter! I’m delighted for the horseball champions that they got to play their game all morning in the kind of weather we miserable little eventers can only dream of! I’m thrilled that when we finally got into the final horse inspection at 11.45 it immediately started bucketing down on all of us! I’m fine! We’re all fine! We’re having a lovely time! When’s the off-season again? Oh, yeah, next week, thank god. I can’t believe I already made the “when it rains it Paus” joke last year. What will I do now?
“Hey Siri: why?”
The second deluge of the week wasn’t the only drama to befall us at the final horse inspection: we’ve also seen our field thin by four, and in the process, we’ve lost our overnight runner-up.
There were two overnight withdrawals after yesterday’s seriously influential cross-country phase: Jonelle Price opted not to present Hiarado, who had sat 21st and best of her three rides after adding 7.2 time penalties yesterday, and fellow countryman Abigail Long, who had decisively blasted her previous personal bests out of the water with an incredible dressage test and a top ten placing on Friday aboard Henton Audacious, also opted not to come forward. The pair had finished cross-country with a clear round and 12.8 time penalties, moving them from fifth to 21st place in the overall leaderboard.
Three horses were sent to the holding box during the course of the inspection, which once again took place before ground jury president Christina Klingspor and members Eric Lieby and Angela Tucker.
Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Those were Great Britain’s Grace Cooper and Cedarmount Cavalier, 42nd after picking up 20 penalties and 27.2 time penalties yesterday, Selina Milnes and Cooley Snapchat, who also picked up a 20 and 4.4 time penalties to slip from 12th to 31st, and Bubby Upton and Cannavaro, who moved from first to a close second place after picking 4.8 time penalties across the country. The 18-year-old gelding, making his return to five-star for the first time in three years, was Bubby’s sole remaining ride in the competition after a topsy-turvy day yesterday saw her fall from both Cola and Its Cooley Time at fence 27D, the final part of a perennially influential combination coming down a mound just before the arena.
Bubby Upton and Cannavaro. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Just Selina would return to re-present, which she would do successfully. Both Grace and Bubby, after further inspection in the holding box and deliberation amongst their support teams, opted not to try again, and instead withdrew their mounts.
Tim Price and Jarillo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
That necessitates a rejig of the business end of the leaderboard, which sees Sarah Bullimore and the exceptional nine-year-old homebred Corimiro lead the way in the gelding’s first time at the level. They come forward to this afternoon’s showjumping on a two-phase score of 30, just 0.9 penalties – or two seconds in hand – over newly second-placed Tim Price and Jarillo, who finished ninth here last year on a clear showjumping round. Tim also steps into the top ten with Happy Boy, who was eleventh overnight after adding 5.2 time penalties. Benjamin Massie, who leads the way for France, steps up into podium position with the ten-year-old Filao de Perle, while compatriot Astier Nicolas and Dirty Old Town will jump for fourth place. Great Britain’s David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed now round out the top five after a redemption round yesterday saw them finish inside the time, putting a tricky 2025 season behind them.
Grace Taylor and Game Changer: best of the strong US contingent in eighth place. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
This afternoon’s showjumping finale, which will see 39 horses and riders come forward for one last hurrah, begins at 14.45 local time (13.45 GMT/9.45 a.m. EST). As always, you can watch along on Pau TV, and tune back into EN for our full report on all the action this evening. Until then: Go Eventing!
EN is proud to welcome Horsepal onboard as the sponsor of our Pau coverage! Horsepal is a newly-launched heart rate monitor brought to you by Tom MacGuinness, founder of Horseware and an FEI eventer and endurance rider, who’s brought his decades of knowledge to practice in the design of Horsepal. You can now purchase Horsepal directly to the UK and Europe — learn more here.
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