Hoy in the driving seat at Badminton......
Friday, May 02, 2008
Australia's Andrew Hoy took the lead after the dressage phase as the second leg of the 2008 HSBC FEI Classics series got into full swing at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials today.
A very special dressage performance from his 2006 Badminton winner Moonfleet earned an excellent mark of 35.4 and first-day leader, fellow-Australian Clayton Fredericks, dropped to fifth spot with Nullabor as four others improved on his score of 38.1.
Britain's Ruth Edge lies second with Muschamp Impala going into tomorrow's crosscountry challenge followed by two more home runners, Lucy Wiegersma riding Shaabrak and Matthew Wright with If You Want. However it is a truly international line-up with Germany's Andreas Dibowski lying sixth with FRH Little Lemon and the formidable Frenchman Nicolas Touzaint in ninth place. Less than five points separate the top 10 at this stage, and lying just outside the leading group are William Fox-Pitt and Mary King. These two British stars had some difficult moments with their star rides - Fox-Pitt's Tamarillo boiling over with excitement during his test and King struggling to execute the difficult flying changes with the very handsome Imperial Cavalier. Both however can be expected to move up the leaderboard tomorrow evening following their cross-country exploits.
Bigger crowds then ever turned up for the first two days of this 4-Star fixture and reigning World Champion Zara Phillips is a huge draw for the home supporters. However while she secured 18th spot with her first ride, Glenbuck, she endured a far less pleasant experience with Ardfield Magic Star who became increasingly less cooperative as his test progressed. Zara's status as a member of the British royal family ensures she is in the limelight no matter what happens, but she just shrugged off the disappointing performance that left her second horse well out of contention.
Hoy has every reason to be extra-pleased about Moonfleet's result so far. Now aged 17, the fabulous Irish-bred horse has made an excellent recovery from a "tie-back" operation on his left larynx which was in partial paralysis before the procedure was successfully completed last November. The horse has only completed two events so far this season but he is looking very good indeed. "He's feeling fresh and well - maybe not as hard as when he won here last time but I'm very happy with him" the 49 year old Syndey Olympic silver medallist said.
Talking about the course he said "I think the time is achievable even though there are a lot of jumping efforts in the 6-7 minute period. There are other places where you can gallop along quite nicely to make up the time" he pointed out. Galloping along nicely is exactly what his son of Strong Gale does, so will the course suit him then?
"I'll tell you that tomorrow evening!" he replied to that particular question. Ruth Edge thought that the track should suit her gelding too "but I'm never keen to say too much about what might happen on cross-country day!" she pointed out.
Agreeing with Hoy she said that "from the Hong Kong Corners to the Bank is just one minute but there are 11 jumping efforts in there - a lot more than normal - so it will be a test of stamina and riders will have to keep enough in the tank for horses to still keep jumping at the end". Her horse is also recovering, this time from a suspensory ligament problem, but she believes he is in good shape and ready for the colossal challenge he faces tomorrow.
Sitting on the side-lines will be living legend Mark Todd who has come out of retirement in a bid to qualify for this summer's equestrian Olympic Games in Hong Kong. He says he knows it is "a tall order" but is really enjoying his return to the sport from which he retired after the Sydney Games and which, he finds, he is very much missing. The three-time Badminton winner is really looking forward to watching tomorrow's action along with huge crowd of spectators who are guaranteed to turn out for another Badminton thriller.....
