Yesterdays cross country really shook the leaderboard up. This interesting course asked the horse plenty of tricky questions over some smaller fences as well as asking them to show plenty of bold scope over some of the giants. Only 5 combinations made it home inside the time. There were 47 clear rounds, with 15 retiring on the cross country and 4 being eliminated.
The Top 10
Oliver Townend is looking in a strong position with one of his horses sitting in 1st place and the other in 7th, within 11 penalties of each other. Christopher Burton had a fantastic day yesterday, getting both his rides home clear within the time, which means he also has 2 spots in the top 10. The Kiwis also did well, with 3 riders in the top 10, well in touch with the podium spots.
- Oliver Townend – Ballaghmor Class – 21.5
- Piggy French – Vanir Kamira – 26.8
- Christopher Burton – Graf Liberty – 27.7
- Andrew Nicholson – Swallow Springs – 27.8
- Christopher Burton – Cooley Lands – 28.1
- Tim Price – Ringwood Sky Boy – 30.1
- Oliver Townend – Cillnabradden Evo – 32.1
- Virginia Thompson – Star Nouveau – 38.3
- Bill Levett – Lassban Diamond Lift – 39.9
- Tina Cook – Billy The Red – 40.5
Ex Racehorses
Arctic Soul
Arctic Soul was very early in the day and being the cross country machine he is, simply stormed round the course. However, after jumping the ditch a bit big at the Mirage Pond, there was no way to make the sharp turn to the next element, meaning they had to take the long route. This turned out to be very expensive and meant that for a change, Arctic Soul and Gemma Tattersall were not the handful of combinations home within the time.
They finished the cross country with 52.5 penalties, leaving them in 28th place. This is a huge improvement on where they were after the dressage, but they will have their work cut out to creep back into the top 10 for the 4th year running!
Captain Jack
For his first time at Badminton, it is impressive to see that this little horse got round Badminton clear, albeit with a few jumping faults. They finish this phase of the competition with 94.7 penalties and are sitting in 55th place, which is 25 places higher since the dressage! It’s not a world beating score, but it is fantastic to see their first Badminton go so well and hopefully they will complete the show jumping today and come back again.
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Last Updated on 22/12/2021
