| The FEI Blenheim Petplan European Eventing Championships, 2005.
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The FEI Blenheim Petplan European Eventing Championships provided an extremely popular win for Zara Phillips on her debut on the senior British team, and for the British team itself. The event was held in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, on the 8th to 11th September.
Riding her twelve-year-old chestnut gelding Toytown, HM the Queen’s granddaughter performed an excellent dressage test that put her in joint third place. Then she jumped brilliant cross country and showjumping rounds to finish on her dressage score of 38.0. Her cross country round was all the more remarkable because it took place in torrential rain.
Asked if she ever thought she would win two gold medals, she said; ‘No. Of course not. It’s a massive dream. I don’t know what to say. I’m completely speechless for once. It was an honour to ride in the team. They have all been really great to me.’
Zara’s mother, HRH the Princess Royal, who won a gold medal at Burghley on Doublet in 1971 when she was known as Princess Anne, presented the medals. According to Zara, she said: ‘I’m going to give you a big hug. I’m really proud of you. It was fantastic!’ So mother gave daughter, who was crying with happiness, an enormous hug in the ring.
‘Dad (Captain Mark Phillips) was helping, and Mum was there keeping it all calm,’ said Zara. ‘I got quite wet on the cross country, but I just had to get on with it. The noise of the crowd was massive. The spectators were fantastic, not just at the fences, but on the flat as well. There was no place to let up. The takeoffs were all right, but it was slippery on the corners. I was a little bit quick on the last stretch, but Toytown had loads of running. He was great the whole way round.’
Asked if she was aware of Toytown tapping fences, she said : ‘Yes. Everyone was urging me on, which was great.’
Zara, 24, was only included on the team when Pippa Funnell’s Badminton winner, Primmore’s Pride, was injured last month. Previously her best successes at senior level were second at Burghley in 2003, also on Toytown, and second at Luhmuhlen, where she finished on her dressage score and
qualified for Blenheim.
Other Individuals.
Second was another British team member, William Fox-Pitt, fresh from his Burghley victory, and riding the bay Anglo-Arab Tamarillo. He also went clear across country and had one time fault in the showjumping phase.
‘I came from Burghley on a high, and I thought the only way to go was down,’ he said. ‘But I’m still on a high. I was very pleased with my ride. Tam was very fresh at the start. He always argues a bit and finds me irritating at times, but he settled down and jumped brilliantly.’
He was asked what his thoughts were during Zara’s showjumping round, knowing that the British team had eight fences in hand. ‘Knock ‘em all down!’ he joked. ‘I knew she had a fence in hand and I didn’t think she’d use it up. I didn’t watch her round. The cameramen love it if they see you watching, so I don’t give them that pleasure.’
After his success at Burghley, he was asked if his schedule was exhausting. ‘When you have great horses like I’ve got, it’s not a hardship,’ he replied. ‘My wife Alice looks after Ollie, the baby.’
Ingrid Klimke, a German rider who was on the 4th placed German team at the Athens Olympics, was riding the grey Sleep Late. They finished equal 16th after the dressage, but with no penalties to add in later phases, they climbed up to bronze medal position. ‘It is fantastic,’ she said. ‘But he hated the sun on Friday. I would sooner do cross country in the sunshine and dressage in the rain.’
Karin Donckers and Gormley, from the Belgian team, had lain in third place after cross country. However, in the showjumping, they jumped straight through the second fence, which put them into fourth place.
Next was a German team horse, Air Jordan with Frank Ostholt, who was equal third with Toytown after dressage. He also jumped clear across country and in showjumping, but time faults during both phases relegated him to fifth place.
A French individual, the Saumur winner Jean Lou Bigot on Derby de Longueval, had galloped through heavy rain to finish fifth after the cross country, but failed the final horse inspection.
Ypaja Karuso, ridden by Piia Pantsu, was the only horse from Finland. He put up a polished performance to jump clear throughout, with only a few time faults on cross country, to improve on his dressage placing of 15th and finish sixth. The seventh horse, FRH Serve Well, ridden by the German individual rider Andreas Dibowski, also went clear except for cross country time faults. Eighth and tenth were the most successful French team horses, Expo Du Moulin and Escape Lane *Mili.
Pippa Funnell finished ninth. She was not in the British team for the first time since 1999 because she was riding the inexperienced bay Ensign. She went into second place after the dressage on 37.8, but almost came to grief at the water complex. ‘It probably looked worse than it felt,’ she said. ‘The bounce into water was a big fence for him, and only the second he has ever jumped. He didn’t have quite the pace I wanted. But he did his best test to date by a long way.’
Ensign completed the cross country still in second place, but had two fences down in the showjumping.
‘He came out of racing because he was too laid back, ‘said Pippa. ‘I bought him from a friend and thought he would be nice to produce and sell, but the three people who tried him found him too lazy. He has only evented for three years, and he gets better and better. Now he has earned his place in the yard. I am absolutely chuffed for Zara. I know my horse with his lack of experience should not have been part of the team.’
As host nation, Britain was allowed a total of twelve riders. After Pippa, the most successful individual was Daisy Dick on her bay Springalong, who finished eleventh with a double clear. ‘Daisy Duck’ was what the commentator called her after she had cleared the cross country fences in a downpour with only a few time faults.
Teams.
With British team riders in individual first and second places, the British team had a total score of 136.5. which won them first place. ‘For me it is one of the greatest moments,’ said William Fox-Pitt. ‘When the Germans started having fences down, it gave us leeway,’ said Jeanette Brakewell. ‘But we still had to do our best.’
‘I was very pleased with all of them,’ said Yogi Breisner, the chef d’equipe. ‘The pressure was on because we were on home ground. I don’t need to motivate them. They do that themselves. All twelve have been brilliant in their preparation. There hasn’t been a harsh word, and it couldn’t have been better. The support teams were all fantastic.’
Lucinda Green commented that someone had told her the British team was so friendly whenever anyone went up to them.
The other team members were Jeanette Brakewell on the 17 year old Over To You, and Leslie Law on his Olympic medal-winning Shear L’Eau, whom he withdrew from Burghley after Coup de Couer injured himself. Jeanette finished in 12th place, having gone clear across country, but having four showjumping penalties to add to her dressage score. Jeanette has ridden Over to You in seven consecutive championships, which is a record.
‘He still feels fresh and he will carry on until he is ready to retire,’ said Jeanette. ‘He doesn’t feel 17, and 18-year-olds have gone to the Olympics before.’
Leslie and Shear L’Eau had an incident on the cross country. ‘He took off early at fence 19 and hit it,’ said Leslie, who had an impressive bandage on his face where he had bumped into Shear L’Eau’s neck. ‘He lost a shoe on the course and had no front studs, so he started to slip a little bit. He didn’t have the grip when we hit that fence. That really took the stuffing out of him.’ They had then jumped the longer alternative and persevered, to finish clear, but Leslie later withdrew because Shear L’Eau was bruised. ‘We put up a good performance,’ he said.
French horses Expo du Moulin, ridden by Arnaud Boiteau and Escape Lane *Mili, ridden by Didier Willefert finished in 8th and 10th place, which was sufficient for the French team to win the silver medal. Both went clear across country except for a few time faults, but Escape Lane *Mili hit the planks in the showjumping.
‘I’m absolutely delighted with the horse,’ said Didier. This is really good, especially for me, not being known at the highest level. Three weeks ago, he did a better test, but there is less pressure on home ground in France. His strong points are his good mentality and his generosity across country.’
The reigning champion, Nicolas Touzaint, on Hildago de l’Ile, was the only rider to fall in the water. Having collected over 100 faults on cross country, including time faults, he had the discard score. So the third horse to count was Blakring *Mili HN, ridden by Gilles Viricel, who completed Badminton in 2004 and 2005. He had no jumping faults, and only time faults on the cross country.
The German team, who finished third, had been in first place after the dressage, and had an exuberant following of flag-waving supporters. Bettina Hoy, European Champion in 1997, rides for Germany but lives in Gloucestershire, England. Her horse, Ringwood Cockatoo, has a magnificent floating trot and their test was a delight to watch, earning marks as high as a perfect 10, and followed by tumultuous applause. When Bettina saw they had a score of only 31.3, she flung her arms in the air with joy. Their test was all the more remarkable because she was riding with an injured collar bone.
They lost their lead when the 14-year-old grey stopped at Cameron’s Cottage, where the landing was on a steep downhill slope to the lake complex. Finally they hit the planks during showjumping to finish with the team discard score.
The most successful German horse was fifth-placed Air Jordan with Frank Ostholt. Marius Voigt-Logistik and Hinrich Romeike had cross country time faults and eight showjumping faults to add to their dressage score, taking them down to 18th place. The third German horse, Twinkle Bee, with Anna Warnecke, finished in 22nd place, having time and jumping faults in showjumping, but neither across country.
The Cross Country Course.
This was a short format competition, with no roads and tracks or steeplechasing phases on the second day. This format, with the competitors going straight to the cross country, was tried at the Athens Olympics and at Blenheim last year.
‘There is no straight answer to which is the most difficult fence,’ said David Evans, the course builder. ‘I think there will be a mixture. The Petplan Puddle, the Vs from Volkswagen, and the Puffa Country Picnic might catch a few out. The UK Sport Splash will be interesting to watch.’
These fences were a bounce into water, two brush triangles on undulating ground, two very narrow brushes, and a rail on a mound with a steep drop down to a dew pond, followed by a sharp rise to a train-like fence. All did in fact cause some stops and eliminations.
‘The weather plays a big factor,’ added David. Since it rained, sand was put down at the fences.
Many were decorated with carved animals and flowers, and fences out of the water complex had a waterfowl theme, as at Burghley. This time it was a pair of shaggy brush ducks set at a sharp angle to each other, although the return through the water led to a brush incorporating a salmon. Fences varied in height from 112 to 140 centimeters and many had a width of 155 centimeters. (If you don’t understand that any better than I do, it is 3 feet 6" to 4 feet 5" high, and 5 feet 11" wide.)
The Touareg Trial involved birch rails one stride from a drop of 180 centimeters, (5 feet 9") followed by undulating ground topped by a narrow brush. The long options on various fences involved turning to jump in the direction from which the horse had just come, then circling back again.
The Last Day.
By Sunday the rain had fortunately stopped. The very popular Celebrity Pairs Cross-country Challenge was sponsored by Townfields Saddlers and Caldene Clothing Company, and pairs of riders, including fairies, Sumo wrestlers and Rastafarian all-blacks, started by jumping out of the arena, then galloped over a simplified version of the cross country course before they headed back into the arena and jumped a showjumping relay. The second rider had the option of jumping the joker, a big set of planks.
Winners were Andrew Hoy and Yoshiaki Oiwa, the young Japanese rider who endeared himself to the crowds when he went into the lead during cross country at Badminton. Yoshi was second to go, and cleared the joker.
Leslie Law retired one of his two famous grey brothers, the 15-year-old Shear H2O, from competition when riding him in the final parade of competitors. ‘He started as a five-year-old and has never missed a season or event, but his enthusiasm isn’t what it was,’ commented Leslie.
The drum horse Spartacus and four state trumpeters wearing gold livery and mounted on greys preceded the competitors into the ring for the medal ceremony at the end of a most memorable championship. Unfortunately most event horses took exception to the fanfare and performed antics that would have earned them zero marks in their dressage tests, so, except for the applause, the rest of the ceremony had to be rather muted.
Rosemary Cooper.
RESULTS. -
Individuals. -
1, Toytown (Zara Phillips, GBR)#, 38.0 penalties;
2, Tamarillo (William Fox-Pitt, GBR)#, 44.3 penalties;
3, Sleep Late (Ingrid Klimke, GER), 45.2 penalties;
4, Gormley (Karin Donckers, BEL)#, 46.7 penalties;
5, Air Jordan (Frank Ostholt, GER)#, 47.4 penalties;
6, Ypaja Karuso (Piia Pantsu, FIN), 47.8 penalties;
7, FRH Serve Well (Andreas Dibowski, GER), 48.3 penalties;
8, Expo Du Moulin (Arnaud Boiteau, FRA)#, 48.5 penalties;
9, Ensign (Pippa Funnell, GBR), 50.6 penalties;
10, Escape Lane *Mili (Didier Willefert, FRA)#, 51.0 penalties;
11, Spring Along (Daisy Dick, GBR), 53.2 penalties;
12, Over To You (Jeanette Brakewell, GBR)#, 54.2 penalties;
13, Park Pilot (Matthew Wright, GBR), 55.4 penalties;
14, Keymaster (Magnus Gallerdal, SWE)#, 60.9 penalties;
15, My Fair Lady (Linda Algotsson, SWE)#, 63.7 penalties.
# denotes team membership.
Teams. -
1, Great Britain, 136.5 penalties.
Toytown (Zara Phillips), 38.0, 1st; Tamarillo (William Fox-Pitt), 44.3, 2nd; Over To You (Jeanette Brakewell), 54.2, 12th,; Shear L’Eau (Leslie Law), 1000.0 X.
2, France, 170.2 penalties.
Expo Du Moulin (Arnaud Boiteau), 48.5, 8th; Escape Lane *Mili (Didier Willefert), 51.0, 10th Blakring *Mili HN (Gilles Viricel), 70.7, 28th; Hildago De L’Ile (Nicolas Touzaint), 164.4, 52nd X.
3, Germany, 181.9 penalties.
Air Jordan (Frank Ostholt), 47.4, 5th; Marius Voigt-Logistik (Hinrich Romeike), 66.4, 18th; Twinkle Bee (Anna Warnecke), 68.1, 22nd; Ringwood Cockatoo (Bettina Hoy), 68.5, 24th X.
4, Sweden, 192.9 penalties.
Keymaster (Magnus Gallerdal), 60.9, 14th; My Fair Lady (Linda Algotsson), 63.7, 15th; Ballys Geronimo (Viktoria Carlerback), 68.3, 23rd; Whos Blitz (Dag Albert), 72.8, 30th X.
5, Italy, 201.7 penalties.
Carrera III (Susanna Bordone), 65.2, 16th; Rock Model (Vittoria Panizzon), 66.3, 17th; Axia 11 (Luisa Palli) 70.2, 25th; The Nightflight (Alberto Guigni), 87.1, 39th X.
6, Belgium, 205.0 penalties.
Gormley (Karin Donckers), 46.7, 4th; Withcote Nellie (Constantin Van Rijckevorsel), 77.9, 32nd; Telstar (Raf Kooremans), 80.4, 35th; Rampant Lion (Carl Bouckaert), 88.8, 41st X.
7, Ireland, 240.5 penalties.
Drunken Disorderly (Mark Kyle), 72.2, 29th; Old Road (Michael Ryan), 79.8, 34th; Cregwarrior (Jonty Evans), 88.5, 40th; Just Beauty Queen (Susan Shortt), 1000.0 X.
8, Poland, 367.5 penalties.
Weriusz (Pawel Spisak), 70.2, 26th; Ostler (Lukasz Kazimierczak), 82.7, 37th; Fordanser (Pawel Rutkowski), 214.6, 53rd; Donna Sara (Jerzy Krukowski), 1000.0 X.
9, Austria, 1207.5 penalties.
Nebelwerfer (Harald Siegl), 103.0, 47th; Miss Ferrari (Harald Ambros), 104.5, 48th; Ballyscartan Hero (Christoph Heiden), 1000.0.
10, Portugal, 2109.8 penalties.
Pegaso (Frederico Mexia), 109.8, 50th; Laughton Hills (Carlos Grave), 1000.0; Jadel de Foja (Matilde Stilwell), 1000.0; Zebedee VIII (Duarte Seabra), 1000.0 X.