Many thanks to Nico Morgan for all the beautiful pictures in this post. Please visit his website at www.nicomorgan.co.uk
2013 Badminton winners Jock Paget and Clifton Promise were fourth to go and delivered the best test of the early morning session — smooth and polished, a correct frame and yet relaxed and still expressive to set the benchmark.
The wind has died down somewhat since yesterday but is still here, and it’s cool enough with odd rain showers to be an excuse for tense, nervous horses to react more,”I think there’s always going to be an atmosphere with or without the wind, certainly the wind doesn’t help,” Jock remarked.
Andrew Nicholson followed Mark Todd in after the first break and although Leonidas was lovely, Nereo was even better to take the lead on 37.8.
With several of the two-horse riders going this morning they were philosophical about perhaps disappointing tests or scores, and looking forward instead to a typical — read tough and technical — Badminton cross country on Saturday.
As we go into the lunch break the Kiwis have a stranglehold on the top of the leaderboard filling the top 3 places with three of their Olympic/WEG team members; you can keep an eye on the live scores here.
Andrew Nicholson and Nereo. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Andrew Nicholson and Nereo
“I was very pleased with the test; he’s very switched on but he knows to be calm about it. I think it was a pretty standard test for him. A horse like Avebury or Calico Joe can go early and get a good mark, Nereo always has to work very hard for his marks and sometimes going early hasn’t always helped him but I would think by his mark that they judged him very fairly on this test. I was very pleased with the cross-country course last year, I hope [Giuseppe] hasn’t shied off his style from last year; I think the weather caught us all out last year and hopefully it’s his style and I’m sure there’ll be enough to jump out there.”
Does Andrew think this is finally his year to take the Badminton title? (He has more completions — 33 — than anyone but has never won). He nods and smiles, “I’m very focused on it, I’ll be holding onto the mane all the way round this time!”
Jock Paget and Clifton Promise. Photo By Nico Morgan Photography.
Jock Paget and Clifton Promise
“I think he’s enjoying being back here, he was really fun to ride in there today, he was quite relaxed and did his job. This year I went in on the left rein which I’ve never done on him before, I always go in on the right rein, just because he felt better, it’s one of those things that can happen and you’ve just got to go with it. I’m always open with him, or any horse, if something feels better to change something in your routine then you just do it. The course looks big, it looks fair, it looks like the horses should understand the question if you give it a good ride; I think both my horses are pretty similar for this type of course.”
Mark Todd and the lovely Leonidas didn’t disappoint with a beautiful test, marred only by an error of course at the end when Mark halted too early, “We’ve had a fairly quiet preparation for Badminton, he’s had three or four runs, he’s gone very well and I’m very pleased with him and he’s ready to come here and have a good crack. I think it was one of the best tests he’s done, he was very relaxed out there, I think the judges are like the weather, a bit down; I was very happy with him. This year a lot of the best horses are drawn in the first quarter of the field so it will be interesting to see what they do later on and tomorrow. It’s very quiet out there today, there’s not many people in the stands.”
On the cross country course which he had yet to walk, Mark commented, “Well, you’ve just got to get out there and walk the course and then make of it what you can with the horse you’re riding; this horse is a very good jumper so hopefully I can make a good plan. It’s Badminton, it’s got to be a proper four star. From what I’ve heard Giuseppe’s softened it up a bit which is good, it was a little bit too intense in the middle bit last year.”
Mark’s yard was burgled on Sunday night for the fourth time, “they’re after the horse drugs, they take Adequan, bute, penicillin …” Luckily they didn’t take anything that was essential for Badminton, nor did they touch the tack, “they just took random things — six new lead ropes, bits that were hanging on the wall, but it’s just not nice knowing that these people are crawling around your place at night”. This despite guard dogs (the pit bull was in the tack room and there were teeth marks all over the broom handle) and security measures, “nothing stops them” and other yards in the area have also fallen victim to burglaries.
Pippa Funnell and Redesigned. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Pippa Funnell and Redesigned
Pippa Funnell is back at Badminton again with Redesigned and hoping that with time she’s learned how to balance all the elements that go into bringing out the best in him, “I was pleased, very relieved because he definitely gets quite nervous here. I just had to stay really quiet but he got better and better as the test went on. I am delighted with him because he stayed relaxed but obviously I know the work is capable of so much more but I’m not going to be greedy, I’m going to be really pleased with him.”
“His preparation for Badminton has been good [Pippa touches the wooden fence], we’ve got a much better system; I’ve had no worries at all but I still would like to probably run him a couple more times for the brain but yet, like anything trying to manage these horses, I’m not sure if I ran him a couple more times if he would…[she shrugs] His feet are sorted, we’ve got a really good farrier who’s done an amazing job but then Red’s Red — two and a half months ago suddenly a splint came up at the age of fourteen!”
“He’s very dear to my heart but I definitely think he owes the owners and I think he owes me, it’s payback time! Physically I would say he’s in the best shape he’s ever been but mentally I can’t say because he’s the most relaxed, lovely horse to deal with in the stable and out hacking and then suddenly he can turn into a monster and I just hope he doesn’t do that on Saturday because he’s just got to keep a lid on it and allow me to ride him and control him!”
“The track is still very much Badminton, it’s a clever track actually and particularly for a lot of us that were here last year, for sure just in a couple of places he’s been a bit kinder and he’s put in a few more let up fences but sometimes when they do that it makes the more difficult fences more difficult. It’s not quite as intense but there’s still a lot of fences to jump, particularly the Colt Pond, I think the Lake is like a good old-fashioned Lake.”
Nicola Wilson and One Two Many. Photo By Nico Morgan Photography.
Nicola Wilson and One Two Many
“I was thrilled with him, I thought he did a really super test, he was very focused from start to finish and the only real blip was the third change which was disappointing but I thought he showed a lot of expression and his transitions were super, and I thought his first flying change was fabulous — full of expression after a lovely transition from the extended canter. You always want a better mark but I’m delighted with the horse.”
“I think the cross country course is lovely, it’s obviously a four star track, it’s very big and bold, I think it is a lot less intense around the Vicarage Vee area which I think was necessary, it was quite full on for the horses last year there. It’s fantastic to be here, it’s One Two Many’s second four star but first visit to Badminton and you don’t know if you’ve got a Badminton horse until you’ve completed.”
“I think it would be lovely for everybody if it just started to dry up a bit so that it’s the same for the first person and the last person to make it a fair competition.”
On recently returning from Kentucky, “I think it’s fantastic to have the opportunity to compete in Kentucky thanks to UK Sport; to take two young horses out there was amazing and so early on in the season, it’s always nice to ride around a four star and hope that your eye is in but the horses are all very, very different. I’m fortunate this year, I keep pinching myself to believe it’s really happening, but I have four horses at the four star level.”
After completing Rolex Annie Clover and Watermill Prince are “having a little bit of a holiday; they travelled incredibly well to Kentucky, they thoroughly enjoyed the competition as did we all, and have come back safe and sound which is lovely. They’ll have a couple of easy weeks and then start to build back into work and we’ll plan for the autumn.”
“We are only a small yard but I have a super team headed by Lynn Swift who flew out with the horses to Lexington and the girls Becci Titt and Jade Hunter were at home looking after the horses and so it really is a huge team effort and so everybody within our home support team pulls together and does their bit, and what is so nice is that the girls on the yard are so proud of the horses and so proud of what they’re doing and they’re proud of their involvement in getting the horses to these big competitions and I’m incredibly grateful to all of them.”
Christopher Burton rounds out the top six on Adelaide 4* winner TS Jamaimo, closely followed by his two compatriots last years winners Sam Griffiths on Paulank Brockagh and first to go this morning Paul Tapner on Kilronan. If you can access Radio Badminton via the Badminton website we highly recommend it, or also the Horse and Hound live stream with expert commentary from Anna Ross-Davies. Stay tuned for a report later this afternoon. Dressage resumes this afternoon at 2pm GB time.
#MMBHT15: Website, Live Scores, Schedule, Course Preview, EN’s Coverage, Twitter, @samanthalclark
