Kiwi eventer Tim Price has this morning won his first big event with victory in the CCI4* at the Luhmühlen International Horse Trials in Germany.
But his win was tinged with sadness, and he dedicated his victory to the young German rider Benjamin Winter, who died as a result of a fall during the cross country phase yesterday.
Price and Wesko (owned by the Wesko Syndicate) were the only combination to finish on their dressage score of 43.8 penalty points. They had worked their way solidly up the leaderboard, having been in seventh spot after the dressage, to second behind World, Olympic and European Michael Jung (GER) going into the final showjumping phase.
With the pressure on, Price held his nerve, where Jung and fischerRocana FST took a rail.
Boyd Martin (USA) and Sharnwari 4 swept up to take third place.
Price’s efforts have also shot him up the FEI Classics standings, and he now sits in third place on 17 points with just one event to go.
But 35-year-old Price was quick to share the glory.
“Full credit to my horse, (my wife) Jonelle and our team who keep everything organised which allowed me to achieve this,” he said.
It was his first start at Luhmühlen and something he had looked forward to for a long time.
The only other four star start for Wesko, an 11-year-old Dutch bred horse, was at Badminton, where the two parted company at the water.
“I had a real need to right that ship. There was the added pressure of it being world champs year too, and there is so much hinging on a big solid result.”
Price got just that today, but the combination has been notching some excellent results in the build-up, including victory in the CIC3* at Tattersalls in Ireland and the CCI3* at Blair Castle last year. Aboard Ringwood Sky Boy (owned by Robert Taylor, Selwood.com and Price), he was ninth at the very challenging Mitsubishi Motors Badminton International Horse Trials recently.
“Yesterday’s cross country was a real achievement for this horse, and today was an added bonus. I know how well he can showjump and he came out and jumped a class round.”
But it wasn’t all plain sailing – Price had an agonising four hour wait while it was reviewed whether he had missed a flag on a skinny brush in the main arena.
“They couldn’t review it until the class had finished, so I was on the edge of my seat for a while there.”
The win was also a celebration of a lot of hard work by he and wife Jonelle.
“It is a long old road from starting in New Zealand, coming over here with nothing, working out how to make a living out of what we do and to get the quality of horses we need to achieve these sorts of things. Now to have that realisation it is possible to have a four star win . . .. it hasn’t properly sunk in yet.”
Wesko came from a showjumping background, and had turned to eventing like a “duck to water”.
“Everything comes quite easily to him – I wish I had 10 more like him!”
His wife Jonelle was the best placed of the other New Zealand eventers in the CCI4* at Luhmühlen, placing 12th on Classic Moet (owned by Trisha Rickards) with 70.5 penalty points, and 16th aboard The Deputy (owned by Lucy Sangster, Tim and Jan Morice and selwood.com) on 74.5.
Sir Mark Todd and Oloa (owned by Di Brunsden, Peter Cattrell, Pip McCarroll and Todd) were in 21st with 81.4, Kate Wood and her own Easy Tiger 27th on 96.3.
In the CIC3*, Price was again the best of the Kiwis, in 15th place aboard Haddon Trump Card (owned by Varenna Allen), with Lizzie Brown and Playtime (owned by Tessa Grant and Brown) in 21st with 95.9.
The class was won by Andrew Hoy (AUS) aboard Cheeky Calimbo with 32.1.
