The horses in the 5 star all looked well at the jog and both Global Quest (George) and Vitali both flew through and and headed out for some well earned hand grazing as the 4*S showjumping got underway.
Plenty of time for Tim to think about his plans for the afternoon. Vitali has never jumped clear at this level and George had a rough time in the final phase at Pau last year when he guessed at a fence, paddled through it and ended up stopping in the combination. The course at Kentucky is always up to height and technical and many dreams have come true and many faded in that stadium.
George cantered into the arena looking like he knew he really deserved to be there. Tim had commented that whilst he was a little surprised by the dimensions of the fences yesterday he certainly would have learned allot and Kentucky is a big stage to deal with on the Sunday. George exuded confidence in his right to be there and he jumped an immaculate round to leave all the poles in their cups and a big smile on Tim’s face. He doesn’t know he picked up the 11 penalties for a pin yesterday and he can rightly be proud of his week.
Vitali dances to his own beat on the Sunday and expectations would not have been sky high either side of the pond from his supporters to be fair. There were plenty of poles on the ground, the time was near impossible and at 16 years old generally improvement tends to be limited. But he is a mercurial character and with a masterful ride from Tim Vitali jumped his first ever clear at 5 star….on a day when it didn’t matter nearly as much as it has in the past as he was sitting in 5th spot and not fighting for the lead! You really couldn’t write Vitali’s story without being accused of making it up but it was so good to see Tim so happy with him at the end of the round and Vitali virtually smirked all the way out of the arena.
The media have been elaborating on Tim’s injury all week whilst Tim tried to keep it under the radar. It has been well documented on Clip My Horse that Tim hit the deck at the North Holland (Oudkarspel) horse trials last Saturday….not off one of his 4 advanced rides but his bike. Some swift medical attention by the Dutch meant he had the collar bone operated on that night and in true Tim form he gritted his teeth and simply got onto riding two horses at a five star. To finish on two double clears with great tests is extraordinary and he commented at the press conference on Vitali’s clear:
“I can’t believe it! The secret sauce is that trainers for years have been telling me to lighten my contact, and I haven’t listened well enough so fatefully, break a shoulder and then I can’t actually use my contact. So maybe there’s something to come out of this! It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
It’s a wrap on Kentucky and from an inauspicious start it has ended with two great performances. Vitali could have chosen a slightly better moment to shine so bright today but hey, the little black horse has now completed nine 5 star events and never finished out of the top 10. That is something special for sure.