Faerie Good Golly redeemed herself in the 3*S showjumping this morning with a very nice clear round inside the time which moved her from 70th to 52nd. I mean, 52nd isn’t actually a goal at 3 star to be sure but it’s a hell of a lot better than 70th!
Gloire de Marchenval (Louis) continued his best behaviour with a clear and just 0.4 time to move up from third into second place and The Highlander (Ivar) was also the utter pro for a clear in time to move up into the top 12, both of which started a good day for Tim.
The 3 star horses go cross country on Sunday afternoon so it was the turn of the small but classy 4 star long horses to take centre stage this afternoon. Tim continued his good day with a super clear from Chio 20 adding just 4.4 time for a score of 29.6 which was enough to concede the lead to fellow Kiwi Sam Lissington who squeaked ahead with Quantas to end up on 26.9. Margins don’t come much tighter than that with the show jumping to come tomorrow.
Great to see Jesse Campbell sitting in third with Speedwell (Arthur) and kudos to Sam Lissington who holds 4th and 5th slots as well with Billy Alberto (Bertie) and Delarado (Darcy).
Not such a great day for Jonelle with her two 4 star long boys and it’s hard to watch when Jonelle is the feistiest most competitive person who ticks every box en route to a competition. Jonelle has busted a gut to get back to her pre children weight this spring, walked miles, spent hours at the gym, worked with a nutritionist and is Superwoman in herself in her work ethic and when she has competitons that go wrong week after week she is utterly devastated at the run she is having.
No disasters, the score board says 9th and 10th but with 13 starters that is a tale in itself. Chilli’s Midnight Star (Ollie) was simply rude to initiate a drive by at 6C which was a plain wooden skinny and it actually would have been easier for him to jump it than drop his shoulder but horses are opportunists too and as Jonelle said, there have been a few factors that have not been perfect in the build up for Ollie so she cant blame him for trying an option. Jonelle credited him with coming home jumping really well after that but she said its a long way around a 4 star with a 20 at fence 6.
Capitaine de Hus Z (Alvin) started off well but Jonelle said she knew she was going to be in trouble at the drop combination at 17 earlier on in the track when it appeared that when the accelerator was flat to the floor on Alvin then the steering went awry. The drop was followed by a skinny to two shoulder brushes and Jonelle said Alvin never ran out at the final option, she was some 6metres away from it at that point! Rideability is key at this level but to be fair to Alvin, even at 13 years old, he isn’t used to going fast but to say it was a disappointing day for Jonelle is an understatement.
Mixed emotions at the end of Saturday Royal Jump. Great that the young guns and Chio have so much to fight for tomorrow, great that the New Zealand contingent are shining a light so bright but just a little bit gutting that Jonelle is the fall guy again.
Fingers crossed for all tomorrow.
