The U.S. team had a tough day at Beas River, on Michael Etherington-Smith’s cross-country course, with Gina Miles and Phillip Dutton the bright spots in a dramatic day of competition. Miles stands fifth, and Dutton is 14th, while the team dropped to seventh following the elimination of Amy Tryon, two runouts for Karen O’Connor and a runout and technical refusal for Becky Holder.
Overnight leader Lucinda Fredericks of Australia slipped to 11th with 27.2. time penalties. Most time penalties were in the teens, with no one coming close to the time of 8:00. Shane Rose of Australia was fastest, with just 9.2. penalties (23 seconds slow).
The German team took over the lead (158.10), with Australia a close second (162.00) and Great Britain third (173.70). Two Germans—Hinrich Romeike/Marius and Ingrid Klimke/Abraxxas—stand first and second, with Australians Megan Jones and Clayton Fredericks third and fourth.
The much-feared weather turned out not to play a role—it was rainy and cool, in the mid to upper 20s Celsius with high humidity, and although the rain picked up for the last batch of riders, the riders said the footing held up well. Nearly 10,000 spectators turned out to watch.
“I pressed from the beginning,” said Romeike. “If not today, when would you ever? It was tougher than I expected, and the last third was really tiring. It was really knackering.”
But the dentist by profession had nothing but praise for his gorgeous gray with impeccable jumping style. “I always have the impression that his last round is his best round, and it was again his best today,” he said. “Every time he does it. I don’t know how, but he does—thank you Marius.”
“I was really happy because my little black pony just cantered around,” said Klimke. “It was great fun. The only pity is it was over so quickly. Yesterday he saw the fences and wanted to start right away. The horses knew and wanted to have their fun.”
Tough Day For Americans
Tryon fell at the 10th fence, The Birdcages table, when Poggio hit the fence with his front end and stumbled on landing. “I don’t know [what happened]; I’d like to watch the replay. In my mind, I had a good shot out of the turn,” she said. “He caught his right front and slipped before the table. He landed and stumbled, and I thought I’d saved it, but then he stumbled again.”
Under the new FEI rules, Tryon couldn’t complete the course after a fall, even though she and Poggio were both fine.
Miles finished the course with a huge grin as she pulled up McKinlaigh. “My horse is the best horse in the world,” she said. “When Thomas [Schulz, his owner] picked him out as a 4-year-old, I said we’d have to sell him, he was too big to be an event horse. But he’s proved us all wrong.”
She said his rideability allowed her to fly through the turns as fast as she could. “It really rides like we walked it,” she said. “The only thing is you have to balance going as fast as you can and getting the jumps jumped. I just knew I had to come home with a clean round.”
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Holder said she waited too long to set up for the angled dragons at fence 21AB, where Courageous Comet ended up running by the first one. She then crossed her path en route to the second one and received another 40 penalties for a technical refusal. “I misjudged the hill and how long it would take to get him on his feet,” she said. “By the end I had taken one too many tugs. He was there for me the whole way; it was my fault. I wish I could have that moment back.”
O’Connor said she’d hoped to finish within a minute of the time, and things were going well until she came to the influential triple brush at fence 9. After a runout there, she continued on and had a second runout at the pagodas at fences 27-28. “Mandiba in so many ways stepped up, but the arrowhead after the brush became more than what he was comfortable with,” she said.
“Having done that, I thought he became a lion for the rest of the course,” she added.” I was having a fabulous ride, but knowing Becky had had two runouts and time, I knew the only way for me to bring back a meaningful score was to go straight [at the pagodas]. I’m disappointed and frustrated, yet what a horse for me and the U.S. for the future; he can do it all. There’s no telling how far he can go.”
O’Connor said it looked like the footing was breaking up, so she’d given her horse extra support, expecting him to slip, but he didn’t. “The turf was turned up, and there were pockets of sand,” she said. “After the first few turns I stopped protecting him. I was told to give it the ride of my life, and with the exception of two fences, it was.”
And, pointing to the bracelet on her wrist made of Theodore O’Connor’s hair, she added, “My friend was out there with me.”
Dutton said he went as quickly as he could aboard Connaught. “With the undulation of the ground, the horses were backed off and didn’t want to get in top gear,” he said. “The team had not had a good day, so I was riding for myself and was able to take a chance for myself. He was tired at the end, but he still jumps well tired.”
Australia Still Close
Lucinda Fredericks dropped to 11th with a slower ride than she’d hoped for (9:08), including taking the long routes at fences 18 and the offset ditch and wall pagodas at fences 27-28. “The strides didn’t quite come out today,” she said. “I was working not to let her off the hook until after fence 9, because I could see her ballooning running down [to the narrow triple brush]. I was not being selfish—I was being a team member. I would have liked to have been 20 seconds faster, and I probably would have if I had gone straight at the last alternative.”
Headley Britannia added a stride between the two ducks in the water at fence 5. “Some will take more risks than I did,” she added. “[My husband] Clayton let Ben run, but I chose to set up a little more,” she said. “If there had been 2 or 3 more minutes, I could have caught up where other people would be slowing down.”
Clayton had a great time riding around the course and stands in fourth place with 16.4 times penalties. “I can’t tell you how touching it is to hear people yelling, ‘Go Aussie, go Clayton, even go Ben.’ To have so many fans in the crowd is brilliant.”
Megan Jones said she rode extra defensively to leave some strides out, take extra tight turns and gallop Irish Jester into third place as the top Australian. “I can take risks because I’ve had him since he was a foal, and I totally trust him 100 percent,” she said. “He was a good boy; my god, he tried hard.”
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All five Australians posted clear rounds, and the British got four of their five around clear. Sharon Hunt of Great Britain and Tankers Town had just one runout at the second pagoda.
“Riding that speed at that distance, over that many jumps is as hard as it gets,” said William Fox-Pitt, who round on Parkmore Ed added only 10 faults for the British. “There’s no breathing time, even for the rider, and I’m fit. He had a very good rhythm through the turns and has a long stride, and he really locked onto the fences. There were one or two fences where I really had to whoa. Wrestling them back is really tiring and demanding on [the horses].”
“We’re all over the moon to pull up to a competitive place,” said Mary King, who stands sixth individually as the top Brit with Call Again Cavalier. “And we’re all riding good jumpers.”
Good Day For The Sport
In addition to Tryon’s fall, the only other riders to part from their horses were Andrew Nicholson of New Zealand (fence 28), Alex Hua Tin of China (fence 8) and Jean Renaud Adde of France (fence 4).
Nicholson conceded that he just doesn’t have luck at Olympic Games. He was pushing for the time when he came to the pagodas at fences 27-28. Lord Killinghurst started to add a third stride between the two fences then swam through the fence, and although it looked for a moment as if they might land upright, in the end Nicholson had no chance of saving it. “The moment I landed off the first element, I knew things weren’t quite on line. It’s the only fence that was chancy, but I was too close to the leaders [to give up his shot by going the long way],” he said. “With a little bit of luck, who knows what might have happened. He’s 17 and knows his job and skims right over the jumps.”
Samantha Taylor of Canada said Livewire was impressed by everything in his first four-star. Although she’s 60th after runouts at fences 9 and 13, she said he built confidence around the course. “I’m happy with how he finished,” she said. “He made green mistakes, but he’s better for it.”
Etherington-Smith said the course rode just as he’d expected. “I’m not the least surprised that no one made the time; I never believed anyone would make it,” he said. “The riders did a good job and should congratulate themselves on being extremely sensible.”
Martin Plewa, president of the ground jury, was thrilled with the day’s success, without a single hold on course or injury to horse or rider. “It was very safe and very good, and I’d like to congratulate all the riders, who were aware of their responsibility and the welfare of the horses,” he said. “It was a good Olympic competition, and it is a good sign for the Olympic future of eventing.”
