The Mitzubishi Motors
Badminton Horse Trials.
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Great Badminton, Gloucestershire.
1st – 5th May 2019.
Rosemary Rachael Hart.
Badminton from the air. *
Horse trials can produce surprise results in the very last round, and Badminton 2019 certainly did this, with the result not known until the last moment and less than one point separating first and second...
Early on Thursday morning, Oliver Townend, fresh from his win at Kentucky, establised a lead in dressage that was hard to beat, 19.1, on Sally-Anne Eggington's black 13-year-old, Cillnabradden Evo. Next day, with 21.1, he took provisional second place on his 2017 Burghley winner, the grey Ballaghmor Class, owned by Angela Hislop, Karyn Shuter and Val and Peter Ryan. (These scores sound amazing to anyone accustomed to the idea that a score in the 30s will probably take the lead; however they are now calculated differently.)
Oliver and Evo picked up faults across country, but Ballaghmor Class (Thomas at home) took the lead with a clear round. Oliver was in line for the second leg of the Grand Slam (of consecutive wins at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley in any order.)
Piggy French, on Trevor Dickens' dark bay mare Vanir Kamira lay fourth after dressage with a score of 26.0, then climbed
to second place after cross country. Piggy thought she had some chance in the final days' showjumping until she saw the
course and thought: “No chance!” As she said, at home she could build a course like that 360 days of the year and
Kamira, usually a pain in the backside, wouldn't go clear, but when it really matters, she gives it everything she's got. Kamira certainly did that! Even though she rattled poles, the crowd didn't respond with the anticipated groan, so Piggy knew they were still standing. When they finished clear. Piggy circled the arena in joy, as exuberant as though she'd already won.
Last came Piggy's former boyfriend, Oliver, and Thomas. “He's a hard one to beat,” said Piggy. They had a sufficiently big
lead to have a fence down and still win. One fence did fall, then they went clear to the end...the apparent winners!
Then came the shock...time faults! Piggy and Kamira had won!
Piggy, still numb with joy at her first-ever 5 star win, sat through the press conference with her little son Max on her knee.
“I’ve got so used to congratulating other people that I can’t quite believe it, but Kamira’s such an amazing little mare.” she said.
.
She'd been in line for Olympic selection in 2012, but injury finished the career of her best horse Jakarta,
and then her other top horse, DHI Topper W, also went lame. Then came a downslide with owners taking horses away.
“I was scared to let myself dream,” said Piggy, whose real name is Georgina. She lost faith in herself until she
found a new love, former pupil Tom March, and Max was born. Through pregnancy and motherhood, she regained her
lost calm and self-belief. Her victory at Badminton was the first British win for ten years.
Vanir Kamira.
Kamira was ridden by Piggy at the start of her career in 2012, and won a number of events. In 2014 she went to Paul Tapner and moved up to 3 star level. Her first 4 star event was Burghley in 2014, and in 2017, back with Piggy, she finished second there .Last year she fell on the cross country at Badminton, then came fifth at Burghley.
Kamira's sire is the Zangersheide Camiro De Haar Z. (Léon Melchior founded the Zangersheide stud in Lanaken, Belgium, with the aim of breeding top class showjumpers. ) Camiro's parents, Chellano Z and Namira de Haar Z, were both Zangersheide horses, of predominantly Holstein and KWPN breeding, but with a mixture of Arab, Thoroughbred, Gronigen, Gelderlander and Selle Francais bloodlines.
Kamira's dam, Fair Caledonian, was a thoroughbred by Dixi, whose pedigree includes champions such as the Derby winner Hyperion, Mumtaz Mahal the Flying Filly,
Phalaris, founder of the most successful male line in the world with descendants like Northern Dancer, and Son-in-Law,
who as the founder of the twentieth century's best staying line, also figures in the pedigrees of many steeplechasers
and show jumpers.
How did the others do?
In third and fourth place, Australian Christopher Burton, who lives in Surrey, rode Cooley Lands and Graf Liberty. Both had good dressage scores in the 20s and went clear across country. The bay Cooley Lands, an 11-year-old by Cavalier Lands, jumped clear again on the final day to finish on his dressage score of 28.1. He overtook his brown stablemate Graf Liberty, a son of Limerick, who had one show-jumping fence down plus time faults.
Fifth came evergreen New Zealander Andrew Nicholson and Paul and Diana Ridgeon's grey Swallow Springs, an 11-year-old by Chillout. Third at Burghley last year, they had also completed the cross country course on their dressage score and went into the show-jumping in fourth place, separating Christopher Burton's two contenders. However two fences down dropped them by one place.
Oliver Townend's other ride, 13-year-old Cillnabradden Evo, collected time penalties across country and hit one show-jumping fence to finish sixth. However he did have a taste of glory. Oliver's Thomas is so excitable during laps of honour that he rode Evo instead. Evo is registered as an Irish Draught Sport Horse, but is in fact by the KWPN Creevagh Ferro out of Willow Garden, a daughter of the Irish Draught King Henry and the thoroughbred Sally Gardens.
Kristina Cook and the chestnut 12-year-old Billy the Red (by Balou du Rouet and bred by Michaela Weber-Hermann, not the Billy stud) were level-pegging with Christopher Burton and Cooley Lands after dressage, both on a score of 28.1. Billy jumped two clear rounds, with no time faults showjumping, but the time faults he'd picked up across country dropped him from a possible joint third to seventh.
New Zealand's Virginia Thompson and the Goldstar mare Star Nouveau had risen from 58th after dressage to lie eighth with a clear round across country, but an embarrassing 32 show-jumping faults, plus time faults, relegated them to 39th place.
Bill Levett from Australia and the chestnut 11-year-old Lassban Diamond Lift lay ninth at the beginning of the show-jumping, having had eight time faults across country. However two fences down relegated them to 15th place.
After lying in 65th place after dressage with a score of 39.6, Imogen Murray and the 12-year-old Ivar Gooden went clear in
both jumping phrases, with only 1.6 time faults across country, enabling them to rise to eighth place and win the
Glentrool Trophy for the horse and rider who made the most improvement on their dressage score.
William Fox-Pitt and the Hanoverian Little Fire, a 10-year-old bay son of Graf Top out of a Heraldik XX mare, had lain joint 13th after dressage. Two clear jumping rounds with a few time faults had brought them up to ninth place. If William's other ride, Oratorio, hadn't rolled a show-jumping pole, he would have risen from 14th to 10th, instead of having to be content with 13th place.
New Zealander Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy, who like Thomas is a son of Courage, finished 10th.
The 2018 Burghley winners had lain in sixth place after their clear round across country, but Sky Boy disappointed
with three show-jumping fences down, plus time faults.
Across country, the Shogun Sport Hollow was the most influential obstacle, producing twelve refusals,
five of which led to competitors retiring. The Hildon Water Pond produced seven refusals, of which three led to
retirement and one to elimination. During the whole competition only one horse fell, Charlton Down Riverdance,
who came to grief at the Vicarage V. Both Riverdance and his rider Becky Woolven walked away unharmed.
This was the final Badminton sponsored by Mitzubishi Motors, a relationship that has lasted for twenty-eight years.
Results.
* Photo courtesy of Kit Houghton. Not to be reproduced by any means whatsoever without prior permission from
Kit.