Free falling showjumping rails saw the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials title slip through the fingers of Andrew Nicholson this morning.
The top Kiwi eventer ended up sixth aboard Nereo (owned by Libby Sellar) after picking up12 jumping penalties. Compatriots Jock Paget and Sir Mark Todd placed third and fourth respectively.
Paget was thrilled with the efforts of Clifton Lush (owned by Lucy Allison and Frances Stead).
“He’s a great little horse who hasn’t really had a chance to shine at the four stars, so it is good for him to get up on the podium today,” said Paget, who last won the event in 2013.
“He felt a bit tired in the warm-up and I wasn’t sure how he was going to go in the ring. In the end we didn’t give him any fences in the warm-up, just kept him fresh and took him in trusting he is a professional, knows h is job and will try for us in there. He did just that.”
Paget felt the horse was a little unlucky to take the single rail.
“He did try to jump it but just nicked it on the way down. That happens . . . it is the sport.”
In a pressure-cooker finish, a clear round was needed by each of the top four to take the title. Ingrid Klimke (GER) and Horseware Hale Bob did their best to secure Germany’s first ever Badminton title with a lovely clear round, putting the pressure on the three to follow her – Oliver Townend (GBR) on Nicholson’s former horse Armada, William Fox-Pitt (GBR) on the stallion Chilli Morning and Nicholson on Nereo.
Showjumping has never been Armada’s best phase, and the full brother to Nereo added 16 faults to his tally to slip from third to 11th.
Fox-Pitt and Chilli Morning left everything up to remain on their 39 penalty point dressage score.
It was down to Nicholson, but sadly, instead of adding the Badminton trophy to his cabinet, he has two more completions, bringing his record to 35. Three rails tumbled, sliding the seven-time four star winner from first to sixth place.
Clear rounds were elusive this morning, with just six from the 56 starters.
“It was a tough course,” said Paget. “It was very much up to height. The time was tight which puts pressure on the riders to go quicker and then they make mistakes. And then you have the undulation of the ground . . . you need a sharp horse to jump clear.”
Four-time Badminton winner Todd and Leonidas II (owned by Diane Brunsden and Peter Cattell) picked up just a time fault to finish on 48 and fourth place.
Earlier, Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy (owned by Selwood.com) added 12 faults to their tally to slip to 15th on 60.1, while his wife Jonelle and Classic Moet (owned by Trish Rickards) added eight faults to move up to 20th spot on 62.9.
Nicholson and his own Calico Joe had 20 faults in the showjumping to finish in 22nd, with Jonelle Price and The Deputy adding 25 to their tally for 35th place, and Todd on Oloa (owned by Diane Brunsden, Peter Cattell and Pip McCarroll) finished in 41st.
Tim Price also won the William Miflin Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive year as the rider with no cross country penalties closest to the optimum time.
Earlier, Paget’s Clifton Promise (owned by Frances Stead) and Lucy Jackson’s Willy Do (owned by Gillian Greenlees and Jackson) were withdrawn before the final horse inspection.
Fox-Pitt is the first British winner since 2009 and Chilli Morning the first stallion to take the title. It was Fox-Pitt’s 14th international four star win.
Results -
Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials results (final, after dressage, cross country and showjumping phases) -
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) Chilli Morning 39 1, Ingrid Klimke (GER) Horseware Hale Bob 40.2 2, Jock Paget (NZL) Clifton Lush (owned by Lucy Allison and Frances Stead) 44.8 3, Leonidas II (owned by Diane Brunsden and Peter Cattell) 48 4, Bettina Hoy (GER) Designer 10 48.4 5, Andrew Nicholson (NZL) Nereo (owned by Libby Sellar) 49.8 6, Nicola Wilson
(GBR) One Two Many 51. 7, Aoife Clark (IRL) Ballylynch Adventure 53.3 9, Sam Griffiths (AUS) Paulank Brockagh 53.8 10, Tim Price (NZL) Ringwood Sky Boy (owned by Selwood.com) 60.1 15, Jonelle Price (NZL) Classic Moet (owned by Trisha Rickards) 62.9 20, Andrew Nicholson (NZL) Calico Joe
63.5 22, Jonelle Price (NZL) The Deputy (owned by Lucy Sangster, Tim and Jan Morice and Selwood.com) 74.5 35, Mark Todd (NZL) Oloa (owned by Diane Brunsden, Peter Cattell and Pip McCarroll) 78.7 41, Jock Paget
(NZL) Clifton Promise (owned by Frances Stead) and Lucy Jackson (NZL) Willy Do (owned by Gillian Greenlees and Jackson) withdrawn before the showjumping, Craig Nicolai (NZL) Just Ironic (owned by Anne, Hedde and Craig Nicolai) and Caroline Powell and Onwards and Upwards (owned by Cameron and Mary Crawford and Powell) eliminated on cross country.
