Posted May 7, 2006

Andrew Hoy Poised to Win Second Leg of Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing

Badminton, GB – May 6, 2006 – Andrew Hoy said yesterday that the cross-country course at Badminton would not just be a canter around Badminton Park, but that’s just what it looked like as he and Moonfleet kept their cool and galloped around clear and without time faults to hang on to their overnight lead (36.5). Hoy is also in sixth place on Mr. Pracatan, (49.1), who he also rode double clear early in the day.

Asked about the difference between Badminton and Kentucky, the first leg of the Rolex Grand Slam, which he won last weekend, Hoy said, “Hugh Thomas and Mike E-S are two very good course designers but I’d say the terrain is different: Rolex is more undulating and here is flatter. This was longer and the biggest difference is I rode four horses and they are all so different. Someone asked the difference between Mr. Pracatan and Moonfleet, and I told them, it’s black and white.”

A winner of the Grand Slam, in which one competitor wins the Rolex Kentucky, Badminton, and Burghley CCI**** events consecutively, receives a cash prize of $250,000.

Moonfleet ran in the afternoon, and Ingrid Klimke and Sleep Late kept the pressure on, adding only 2.8 time penalties to their dressage score of 43.2. While Hoy and Moonfleet can afford a rail tomorrow, Klimke has no room for error: Oliver Townend and Flint Curtis, who moved up from fifth place, are just barely behind her with 43.5.

“It was just thrilling because everything went the way we planned,” said Klimke. “I walked the course several times with Chris Bartle and it went according to plan. I was pleased with the way Sleep Late did it.” Still, she added, “I wouldn’t say it was easier than I thought – I knew jump after jump you would have to prepare and support your horse - but as I galloped to jump 27 I had a big smile on my face because I already had 3/4 of the course behind me.”

Terry Boon and Foreign Exchange (44.1) had 3.2 time penalties, but stayed in fourth place. The way eventing goes he could well end up in the top three after show jumping tomorrow. Ruth Edge and Two Thyme (48.2) jumped around clear but lost their top three standing because of 7.6 time penalties.

Scores are close together, so there is little room for error tomorrow. Following Hoy and Pracatan are Sharon Hunt on Tankers Town (49.6), and Lucky Wiegersma on Shaabrak (49.8), respectively, both with double clear rounds. Daisy Dick on Spring Along (49.8) is in ninth place with .4 time faults. William Fox-Pitt and Ballincoola went double clear and moved up from seventeenth to tenth place. Fox-Pitt won Badminton in 2002 riding Tamarillo, whom he withdrew today before cross-country.

Last year Pippa Funnell won Badminton with Primmore’s Pride, the horse with whom she claimed the only Rolex Triple Crown victory in history. Today she suffered the agony of defeat when she and her horse Ensign took a tumble at Mike Weaver’s Haycart. Earlier in the course she lost a stirrup at the daunting Lake jump, but stuck in the tack. Later she was not so lucky. Funnell blamed the BBC cameraman for distracting her horse, but after reviewing the video, Hugh Thomas decided that it was Funnell who must have been distracted.

Out of 72 horses that started the competition, six were withdrawn before dressage, six retired on cross-country and four were eliminated on cross-country. Karin Donckers (BEL) sustained the worst injury of the day at the Vicarage Vee when Gormley hung a stifle over the jump and cantered over Donckers’ arm as she fell to the ground. Several other riders fell but were uninjured.

The weather at Badminton has been ideal all week: both dressage day were hot and sunny, and today was slightly overcast and cool, but dry, just perfect for the hard galloping and jumping that the horses faced today.

This is the first time that Badminton has been run as a short-format event, and fitness seemed to pose no problems for the competitors. Oliver Townend, who had competed here once as a long-format event said, “The short format adds a little more pressure to get it right. At the end of the day, it wasn’t really our thing to warm the horse up when we had roads and tracks. Now that I’ve finished, I think it’s a good thing.”

Amber Heintzberger reports from England for PMG

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Hoy and Moonfleet splash through The Lake at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials CCI****©2006 Amber Heintzberger