Thursday,
April 29, First Day of Dressage
The
weather at the Mitsibishi Motors Badminton CCI*** is no better than it was at
Rolex Kentucky, in fact, it is worse because, not only is it raining; but, it
is COLD! - 10 degrees Centegrade, which is about 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Competitors
are not only wet; but they are cold and wet!
High
Thomas, the Director of Badminton as well as the Course Designer, said, "This
is a most eclectic Badminton. We have more competitors over 50 than ever before
and we have more competitors under 25 than ever before. We have previous winners
(Pippa Funnell, 2002 and 2003; and Rodney Powell, 1991) and we have an Olympic
Individual Gold Medalist."(Matt Ryan (AUS), 1992 at Barcelona).
At
the lunch break on Thursday the leader in the Dressage was Pippa Funnell 
riding
the 14 year old bay Warmblood/Thoroughbred Cross stallion Viceroy II, owned by
Mrs. Susan Bunn and Miss Lizzie Bunn, of Sussex, on a score of 47.0. Viceroy II
was third at the Blenheim CCI***, in 2003. By the end of the day Pippa had dropped
to fourth place. The Aussie invasion had begun!
The
second pair to ride after lunch, Australia's Megan Jones with Kirby Park Irish
Hallmark, bettered Pippa's score by five penalty points to take over the lead
with a score of 42.0. Kirby Park Irish Hallmark is a dark bay 13 year old Irish
Sport Horse, bred in Australia, who is owned by Mrs. Emma Landale, of New South
Wales, and by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Jones, of South Australia. (Megan and Kirby
Park Irish Hallmark, "Paddy", are pictured at the left above.)
Megan,
who sold five horses to finance her trip half way around the world, said that
she had called her parents to tell them of her score and woke them up, as it was
about midnight in South Australia. "Oh, it's fantastic!" Megan enthused
about her first visit to Badminton. "It would be nice if the sun would come
out."
Kirby
Park Irish Hallmark is 17.2 hands tall and Megan is most worried about
Fence # 11, the Pony Club Sunken Road. "The Sunken Road is definately different.
It's short in there, pony size. It will be quite hard for "Paddy"."
Matt
Ryan (AUS), the third to last rider of the day, slipped into second place on 44.0.
Matt, the former Olympic Individual Champion, is just two faults adrift of his
compatriot Megan Jones. Matt's ride, the 12 year old chestnut Thorougbred gelding
Bonza Puzzle is owned by Mrs. Anne Pople. (Matt and Bonza Puzzle are pictured
above at the right.)
Matt said, "Everything we do is focused in the Olympics. We're not happy
with three (Olympic Team Gold Medals) in a row. We're going to make it four! He
(Bonza Puzzle) is the main horse my Selectors prefer. This is his first four star
run." Of the Cross Country course difficulties, Matt quoted a fellow Aussie,
" It's not just one fence, it's a whole lot of them!"
Paul
Tapner (AUS), the last rider of the day made it a clean sweep of the top three
places for the Aussies! Riding Highpoint, a fourteen year old Polish bred chestnut
geldng, Paul scored 44.8, the sixth competitor to score in the 40's. (Paul
and Highpoint are pictured at the left.)
Paul
said, "All our Selectors and Coaches are here. They were in Kentucky last
week. I've been riding for the Duchess of Beaufort, schooling a hunter for her.
He's done so well she's decided to send him Eventing. His name is Giocometti.
I do think it's (hunting) fantastic for the horses. The time is a significant
factor That's what put me down at Burghley. I think I'm going to be able to have
a good crack at the time (on Saturday)."
Bumble
Thomas, who rode The Psephologist to a score of 48.6, for the home side, stands
fifth. William Fox-Pitt, recently fourth at Rolex-Kentucky, is in 
sixth
position with Moon Man, on 49.0; and Captain Richard Waygood, of the Life Guards,
who is Riding Master of the Household Cavalry, is in seventh, with Master Fred,
on 50.8. (Captain Waygood and Master Fred are pictured at the right.)
The
Dressage re-commences at 9:00 AM on Friday morning.
*
* * * * * * *
Wednesday,
April 28, First Veterinary Examination
Eighty
horses trotted up before the Ground Jury, Mrs. M.E.G. (Angela) Tucker (GBR), President;
Mr. Alain James (FRA); and Mr. Kees Vellenga (NED), this afternoon in a pouring
cold rain. Rolex-Kentucky fans will remember that Mrs. Tucker had been scheduled
to be the President of the Ground Jury at Rolex and was unable to serve beacuse
she had broken her leg the prevous weekend and was being operated on the Wednesday
of Rolex, a week ago today. Mrs. Tucker arrived on crutches and appeared to be
wearing some sort of brace on the leg; nonetheless, she was able to serve.
(Pictured below at the right is William Fox-Pitt (GBR) with Tamarillo.
William is heavily tipped to win or finish in the top three. William placed 4th
at Rolex-Kentucky last week.)
Ten
of the eighty horses represent New Zealand led by the Olympic and World Championship
veteran Andrew Nicholson, who is based in the UK. 10 more of the eighty entered
are from Australia. The Aussies are led by Matt Ryan, the 1992 Barcelona Olympic
Individual Gold Medalist and by previous Badminton winner, Andrew Hoy. An amazing
25% of the entries are Antipodeans.
Four
competitors are from Ireland; three from France; two from the Netherlands Antilles;
one from Belgium riding 
a
horse partially owned by Carl Bouckaert; one from Germany; and one from Sweden.
(Giles Viricel (FRA) is pictured at left with Blakring*MOLI*HN.)
Eleven
riders will ride two horses each: Caroline Pratt; Eddy Stibbe (AHO); Sarah Cutteridge:
Pippa Funnell, last years winner of the Rolex Grand Slam, (Rolex-Kentucky, Mitsubishi
Motors Badminton and Burghley Masterfood); Andrew Nicholson (NZL); William Fox-Pitt,
recently fourth at Rolex- Kentucky; Chris King; Marie Ryan:
Matthew Wright; Sam Griffiths (AUS); and Bill Levitt (AUS).
Two
horses were sent to the Holding Box: Bill Leavitt"s (AUS) Minuto and Becky
George"s (IRE) Wee Hot Toddy, trotted up by Jim Larkin. Both were passed
upon re-inspection.
The
first day of Dressage begins on Thursday at 9:30 AM.
(Pippa
Funnel, the
winner of the Rolex Grand Slam last year for placing first in the three above
CCI****'s back to back, presents Cornerman, owned by The Cranston Dykebeck Syndicate.)
