There was a dramatic finish to cross-country day at the MARS Badminton Horse Trials when the top two riders, Oliver Townend, with Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s grey mare Cooley Rosalent, and Ros Canter, were both awarded 15 penalties for going the wrong side of a fence flag. There was a palpable sense of relief when the penalties were rescinded afterwards when the ground jury examined video footage.
Oliver Townend with COOLEY ROSALENT [ISH] (GBR). Photo: Irish Eventing Times
Before that, Gemma Stevens and her first ride, Chilli Knight, had enjoyed most of the day at the top of the cross-country leaderboard; they are now in third place, a fence behind Ros.
“Cooley Rosalent is still relatively babyish at 11 and she is a sensitive mare – the opposite of Ballaghmor Class and shy with people,” said Oliver, “but the more the questions came, the more she enjoyed it, and when we were through the Lake, I thought ‘now we’re away’.
“It was a cleverly flowing course where you couldn’t afford to be behind the clock and the mistakes that happened weren’t alarming, which is what we want.”
Ros described riding Michele and Archie Saul’s Lordships Graffalo (“Walter”) as “a privilege”. She said: “He absolutely loves it. When he sees a fence he gets into a great balance and he never seems to tire. I wouldn’t class myself as a fast rider, but I seem to be speedy on Walter.”
Gemma, who may have an advantage tomorrow because she spends a lot of time doing pure show jumping, described Chris and Lisa Stone’s Chilli Knight as “such a genuine little horse – if he sees a fence with flags, he will take me towards it. He has come out of today smiling his head off.”
Austin O’Connor with COLORADO BLUE (IRL). Photo: Irish Eventing Times
The outstanding Irish combination of Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue produced their fifth five-star round inside the optimum time to lie fourth.
Harry Meade, who also had flag penalties rescinded, repeated his feat of a fortnight ago at Kentucky by steering both his rides, Superstition and Cavalier Crystal, around inside the time. He is now fifth and seventh, his horses split by German Olympian Christoph Wahler on D’Accord FRH, sixth.
Six of the top seven riders finished penalty-free inside the optimum time of 11 minutes 40 seconds on day when course-designer Eric Winter’s big but fair track showed the sport at its best with 44 clear rounds, including several from first-timers, and 60 completions from the 79 cross-country starters.
Completing the top 10 are Oliver Townend with his grand veteran Ballaghmor Class, New Zealander Tim Price with Vitali and Irish first-timer Ian Cassells (Master Point).
Tom McEwen didn’t enjoy the best of birthdays, dropping from second to 15th when JL Dublin triggered a frangible pin at fence 26, Huntsman’s Close, and Gemma Stevens was philosophical about pulling up her dressage runner-up Jalapeno after a run-out.
Ian Cassells with MASTER POINT [ISH] (IRL) . Photo: irish Eventing Times
Ireland’s debutante rider, Ian Cassells with Bridget McGing’s Master Point, climbed into the Top 10 after adding just 3.6 time penalties to their dressage score.
Tomorrow’s show jumping finale promises to be a tense affair as Oliver does not have a fence in hand over Ros. Both riders have a Badminton win to their name – Oliver in 2009 and Ros in 2023 – and it is sure to be a tussle to the very last show jump.
Tomorrow’s final horse inspection takes place at 8.30am and show jumping for the lower-placed horses will start at 11.30am.
