Top ten finish for Burton and Leilani at Badminton
Chris Burton and his London 2012 Olympic mount have achieved a top ten placing at their first time at Badminton.
The combination ended their campaign with a score of 49.40 after picking up four jumping penalties in the show jumping round.
Sam Griffiths and Happy Times picked up eight show jumping penalties which saw them finish in 15th position overall. His second mount Paulank Brockagh added four jumping penalties and three time penalties on the final day of proceedings and finsihed in 43rd position.
Paul Tapner was pleased with Kilronan’s first outing at a CCI4* - the pair finished the event in 20th position and had just the one rail down on show jumping day to end with a score of 55.80
Murray Lamperd and Under the Clocks added 16 show jumping penalties to finish with a score of 96.50.
The event was won by New Zealand's Jonathan Paget and Clifton Promise who produced a clear show jumping round to toppled the Olympic, World and European Champion Micahel Jung from top position.
6 May 2013
Sam Griffiths leads the Australian charge at Badminton
Sam Griffiths and Happy Times have moved ahead three places on the Mitsubishi Motors 2013 Badminton Horse Trials leader board overnight to finish Cross Country day in seventh position.
The combination added just 1.6 time penalties to their dressage score and will enter Monday’s show jumping phase on a score of 44.90. They are 8.9 penalties off the pace which continues to be set by Germany’s Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam.
Just outside the top ten is Chris Burton and Holstein Park Leilani who are sitting in 11th position. They added 2.4 time penalties to their dressage score and have 45.40 penalties.
Paul Tapner and Kilronan were the only Australian combination to produce a clear cross country round round which saw them catapult from 38th into 21st p. Griffiths’ second mound Paulank Brockagh added six time penalties while Murray Lampered and Under the Clocks picked up 20 jumping penalties for a technical run out.
Australian results following Cross Country Phase at the Mitsubishi Motors 2013 Badminton Horse Trials:
7th Sam Griffiths Happy Times 44.90
11th Chris Burton Holstein Park Leilani 45.40
21st Paul Tapner Kilronan 51.80
46th Sam Griffiths Paulank Brockagh 64.50
59th Murray Lamperd Under the Clocks 76.50
5 May 2013
Australian placings following dressage phase at Badminton
Here's how the Australians finished following the dressage phase:
9th Chris Burton Holstein Park Leilani 43.00
10th Sam Griffiths Happy Times 43.30
=38thPaul Tapner Kilronan 51.80
54th Murray Lamperd Under the Clocks 56.50
63rd Sam Griffiths Paulank Brockagh 58.50
Germany’s Michael Jung (La Biosthetique Sam) is currently leading the field of 85 with a score of 36.00
FEI TV will be LIVE for the Cross Country phase and Monday's Jumping (6 May) at Badminton - see start times on www.feitv.org/live
4 May 2013
Australians take control at Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials
Two members of Australia's 2012 Olympic team head the leaderboard after the first day of Dressage as anticipation builds at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR), fourth leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.
Chris Burton who proved such a brilliant pathfinder when first out on the course at the London 2012 Olympic Games, scored 43.0 in Badminton’s atmospheric arena to lie a fraction of a penalty ahead of his compatriot, Sam Griffiths on Happy Times.
The pair are also old friends and 31-year-old Burton, who won the Adelaide CCI4* in 2008, was based with Griffiths and his wife Lucy when he first came to England two years ago.
Burton is well known as a talented showman in the Dressage arena. He said of his mount, Jean and Jade Findlay’s 17-year-old warmblood mare, Holstein Park Leilani: “Back at home in Australia, I said ‘this is a Badminton horse’, but I certainly didn’t expect to be in the lead here.
“She’s a lovely mare but not the most extravagant mover, so you have to really ride her. I’m thrilled because I was aiming to score under 45, and so to be in the lead on 43 feels incredible.”
In contrast, Griffiths and the 14-year-old Happy Times are old hands at Badminton, having finished third in 2009 and fourth in 2011. “He’s an experienced campaigner and he’s in good form,” Griffiths said.
“I hope his Dressage mark will hold up, because we’ve got some really good combinations coming up tomorrow, but it means I’m in a good place psychologically.”
This halfway stage of the HSBC FEI Classics™ season is an opportunity for other riders to get a foothold on the leaderboard, but the current leader Andrew Nicholson (NZL) shows no signs of relinquishing his commanding position without a fight.
He is currently in third place at Badminton on 45.0 on his Burghley winner, the crowd-pleasing grey Avebury, with his Pau winner Nereo to come tomorrow.
Both Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt (GBR), who are head to head in a thrilling battle for the Rolex Grand Slam this weekend, seem to be handling the intense media attention with equanimity.
“I’m not really thinking about the Grand Slam,” admitted Nicholson. “My main objective has always been to win Badminton and it’s been fixed in my mind since last year because I’ve got such a good string of horses at the moment. The Grand Slam is a bit of a dream, but I did go to Kentucky to put myself in contention for it. And, of course,” he laughed, “if I win Badminton, the Grand Slam will fall into place!”
Fox-Pitt is currently only 0.8 of a penalty adrift of Nicholson, in equal fourth place with Ireland’s Aoife Clark on Master Crusoe. His first ride, Oslo, winner of Pau as a precocious nine-year-old in 2011, is owned by a syndicate of 12 owners, the oldest of whom, Delia Cunningham, is 92.
“He’s good at dressage and he’s always on your side, but he can be a bit cheeky,” said Fox-Pitt of the French-bred gelding who spent last year side-lined with an injury.
Olympic champion Michael Jung (GER) made his Badminton debut on Leopin FST and is in sixth place on 46.5 after a customarily well-ridden performance. “It’s very nice to be here,” he said. “The Cross Country has good distances between fences where you can gallop – it’s very different from the Olympics!”
The defending Badminton champion, Sir Mark Todd (NZL), is only in 37th place with a mark of 67.8 on his first ride, Major Milestone, but he is not downhearted. “He’s not built for dressage and he doesn’t enjoy it. We both just have to get through it because he’s a very good jumper. My ambition with him is to win the Glentrool Trophy! [for the rider who makes the greatest improvement on their Dressage score]”
The footing at Badminton is in perfect condition, and predictions are that quite a few riders will achieve the optimum time, but riders are regarding the fences with great respect.
Nicholson commented: “I thought it was a bit softer at the start until I had a second walk and I’ve realised there are some very tricky fences out there. At the Lake (fence 9), there’s is a big fence in and really quite difficult 120-degree turn. It’s a proper fence, as it should be at this level.
“The course is pretty decent all the way round. There’s open corners, the Mirage Pond (fence 14) is hard to judge because you’re not sure where you’re going to land, and at the Shogun Hollow (fence 18) there’s a long distance to the third box which will cause difficulty for horses that find it difficult to adjust their strides.”
Badminton has received unprecedented spectator interest this year, and ticket sales are about 10% up on last year, when the event had to be cancelled due to wet weather. There are 84 horses in the field representing 15 nations.
Director Hugh Thomas, who says his Cross Country course is “the strongest it’s been for a while” said
of the line-up:” For those of us who have been involved in the sport for a long time, to have Fox-Pitt versus Nicholson versus Jung is a tasty dish. However, the reality is that there are actually about 15 combinations here who could win.”
3 May 2013
Two Aussies in action on opening day of Badminton Horse Trials
London Olympians Sam Griffiths and Chris Burton will lead the Australian charge on day one of the Badminton Horse Trials.
With their Olympic mounts Happy Times and HP Leilani, the two are part of a four strong Australian contingent competing at this year’s event. Griffiths, who placed 3rd with Happy Times at the 2009 Badminton Horse Trials, has also entered the 10 year old mare Paulank Brockagh.
2010 Badminton Champion Paul Tapner will be competing with elite squad horse Kilronan and Murray Lamperd who was third in last year’s Adelaide CCI4* will also fly the flag for Australia with Under the Clocks.
Since 1949, there have been five Australian winners of Badminton - Bill Roycroft, Laurie Morgan, Andrew Hoy, Lucinda Fredericks and Paul Tapner. Outside of Great Britain no other nation has won as many titles at Badminton as Australia.
The dressage phase will begin later today and follows Thursday’s horse inspection which all entrants passed.
FEI TV, the FEI's official video website, will be LIVE for Cross Country (5 May) and Jumping (6 May) at Badminton - see start times on http://www.feitv.org/live.
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