Pretty much perfect weather for cross country day today at Badminton and the hazy sunshine brought the crowds in in their droves. The Kiwi tent served breakfast from 9 to 10.30and then lunch followed by canapés and cocktails at the end of play which was an amazing base for those who bought tickets for the day and was frequented by riders, sponsors, friends and owners alike.
Much had been made of the ‘fast’ going but at the end of the day just 7 combinations made time, one of them being Tayla Mason and Centennial (Chase) who survived a classic Chase slither into the lake and some quick thinking by Tayla to escape penalties through the arrowheads to come through clean. She rose from 40th to 14th which is a damn good effort for sure!
Jonelle was fairly early out on Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) who looked pretty strong to start with and then, brave lad that he is, jumped right to the bottom of the Quarry from the top and took off in the wrong direction for the direct route out. Jonelle had to do some ultra fast thinking to not cross her tracks, work out a long route and get back on track. She was initially given a 20 which was swiftly taken away when under review but it was a heart stopping moment as Ollie AKA Murphy Himself boldly tackled the rest of the course with not many brakes and questionable steering. Fast forward a few minutes and they seemed to be back on same page and Ollie came home with a renewed partnership with Jonelle with plenty left in the tank and a massive smile on both their faces as they crossed the line. He is only 12 and with now two five star clears under his belt the future is looking bright for sure. They did pick up some 10.8 time but most of that was accrued at the Quarry so much to be excited about for the future.
Many hours later Tim and Falco left the start box with so many expectations and so many ‘what if’s’ adding to the pressure Tim is riding under with his collar bone surgeries first and foremost in everyones mind. The only way to describe it is magical with Tim’s “old friend” Falco ( as he later described him) putting in a near perfect display of dazzling footwork as he utterly skipped around the course like he had been to Badminton before. Not many horses make their Badminton debut at 17 having been 6th individually at Paris Olympics and an individual medalist at the World Champs plus won a 5 star at Pau but hey, Falco just gets better and better and today was simply unbelievable. His prep was so flawed….he last ran at International level at Kentucky in April 2025, didn’t jog, had Tweseldown and Barbury OI’s this spring and popped around that track like the utter pro he is.
They picked up 4 time en route but sit in equal 5th spot which is pretty cool for a jumper like Falco on the last day. Big shout out to his owner Sue Benson who has been nothing but supportive of whatever decision Tim wanted to make this week and backed him all the way. We have two newly minted Badminton horses in the stables tonight and Rosie and Louella can be very proud of their charges for sure.
