Tim Lips and Bayro. Photo by Jenni Autry.
As we expected, the leaderboard saw a major shake-up on the second day of CCI4* dressage here at Turniergesellschaft Luhmühlen. EquiRatings confirmed that Tim Lips set a new Dutch dressage record today when he piloted his stalwart partner Bayro into the lead on 24.1.
The score likely would have crept even lower had Tim not lost his stirrup after the reinback. “I couldn’t do medium canter because I was searching for my stirrup!” (It’s comforting to know that Olympians can lose stirrups in dressage like the rest of us mere mortals!)
Nicole Werner, Tim’s dressage trainer, flew in from Holland today to help him and gave the following advice: “She said, ‘You have an extremely good horse. Don’t ride for a 7. Ride for a 9.’ I think most of that I did, so I was very pleased.”
Bayro, a 12-year-old KWPN (Casantos X Vanya, by Corland), has competed at Luhmühlen for the last three consecutive years, finishing 11th and seventh in the CCI4* in 2017 and 2015, respectively, and third in the CIC3* in 2016.
Tim and Bayro have never made the optimum time on cross country at this venue. With only 10 seconds separating the top 10 after dressage, every second over the time on Mike Etherington-Smith’s course will prove extremely costly on the leaderboard. (Click here for a full course preview.)
“Bayro is not the fastest horse, but I’m definitely not the fastest rider. … He always gives me a good feeling here, and I hope I can repeat it tomorrow,” Tim said. “Normally with this course designer when you walk the course you think, ‘Woah, this is big,’ but they always ride nice.”
Jesse Campbell and Cleveland. Photo by Jenni Autry.
New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell and Cleveland were trending to take the lead until the final flying change, which was late behind to see them settle for second place on 24.6.
“This week I had a slightly new approach with Cleveland,” Jesse said. “He’s like a wild animal sometimes, and sometimes I work him a bit too hard in the lead-up. This week I tried to trust him as much as I could with my training — that what I had done at home was good enough. I wanted him to be peaked physically when we got in the ring. I think we got it nearly spot on.”
Cleveland, an 11-year-old KWPN (Watermill Swatch X Rielone, by Lennard), is making his CCI4* debut here at Luhmühlen, and Jesse said he is looking forward to tackling the course tomorrow.
“You have to be strong and disciplined at the same time,” Jesse said. “I think if you’re not careful, you can get sucked into the way the course is set up. In the middle part he puts in a lot of loops with not so many jumping efforts. I think if you’re not careful you can lose time there.”
Shane Rose and CP Qualified. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Shane Rose and CP Qualified sit in third place on 25.5, which is all the more impressive when you consider he has only ridden the horse a handful of times since October — starting Wednesday when he flew in from Australia.
After they were eliminated on cross country at Les Etoiles de Pau CCI4*, Shane went home to Australia while “Darcy,” a 15-year-old Holsteiner (Quite Capitol X Mareike II, by Corofino 1), stayed in Europe so he could take another crack at securing qualification for the World Equestrian Games.
Sam Griffiths has kept the horse in work at his yard in Dorset, England. While a late-entry snafu kept the horse from running any preparation competitions this spring, Darcy has been galloping and cross country schooling with Sam in the lead-up to Luhmühlen.
“Considering the short preparation, I’m really happy with the test. I fluffed the change after the half-pass left, but other than that I’m really happy and am looking forward to tomorrow … I’ve flown over for this to get a qualifying score. I’m certainly going to go out a little cautiously and gauge how he’s traveling. He’s a horse that doesn’t waste time, but he’s not a very fast horse,” Shane said.
“The course suits him. Whilst a lot of other people would like the rain, he really likes being on top of the ground. For conditions in Europe, this is probably as good as I can get it. It’s not hilly, which suits him as well.”
Click here to view full scores in the CCI4* at the conclusion of dressage. Looking to our American contingent, Boyd Martin, who led after the first day of dressage with the Shamwari 4 Syndicate’s Shamwari 4, now sits in equal eighth on 27.4. Liz Halliday-Sharp and the Deniro Syndicate’s Deniro Z sit 17th on 29.8. Click here to read about their tests in yesterday’s dressage report.
CCI4* cross country starts at 9 a.m./3 a.m. EST tomorrow, followed by CIC3* cross country at 3:45 p.m./9:45 a.m. EST. Start times for our American contingent are as follows:
- Boyd Martin and Shamwari 4: 10:32 a.m./4:32 a.m. EST
- Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z: 9:52 a.m./3:52 a.m. EST
- Woods Baughman and Maverick McNamara: 2:33 p.m./8:33 a.m. EST
The only way to watch cross country in the U.S. is through Horse & Country TV. Click here for a full fence-by-fence preview of the course. We wish safe trips for all horses and riders tomorrow. Go Eventing.
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