‘The best round I’ve ever had’: Laura Collett has another major title at her fingertips at Aachen after surviving a near miss
Laura Collett describes London 52’s super round in the eventing World Championships cross-country – plus the close shave that nearly curtailed her medal bid
However high the pressure dial, Laura Collett and London 52 keep delivering. When they set out on cross-country in the eventing World Championships, they were the new clubhouse leaders after Julia Krajewski and Uelzener’s Nickel had dropped out of the reckoning with time-faults.
The pair conjured a smooth, speedy round, to jump clear just 2sec outside the optimum time. With Michael Jung and Ros Canter both finishing on a clean sheet, this put Laura in the bronze medal position, but just 0.6 of a penalty off gold. She and London are very much still in the running to add the world title to the European crown they won last year.
“This horse is just unbelievable,” Laura said. “It felt like he’d walked the course and knew what I was wanting him to do even before I got there. He gave me so much confidence from start to finish. He never wavered off line.
“I was tempted to go long at that last combination to play it safe, but this horse was on fire, reading everything, so I knew I could trust him. And I was going long off the bank, but this morning Tom [McEwen] made the direct route look so easy, and Chris [Bartle] grabbed hold of me and said, ‘I believe in you. Go straight.’ And there was no reason to doubt him.”
“London 52 has been with me for 10 years now and we know each other inside out,” Laura added. “That was probably the best round I’ve ever had on him.”
Back to the pressure cooker, not only was Laura nursing the overall lead, she had the added burden of knowing her score had to count after Gemma Stevens was eliminated on Flash Cooley. There would be no drop score for Britain.
There was just one heart-in-the-mouth moment. Coming round the turn to the final water, four fences from home, London slipped.
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“We had a bit of a scary moment because he pulled off a shoe and turning to the last water he was nearly on his side,” Laura said. “I don’t know how he jumped quite a big fence into water but he is just the most amazing horse. The ground looked very close at one stage.
“It’s the kind of course where there’s never an easy stride, you’re either turning, jumping, setting up, moving away, trying to make up time that you lose in combinations. He was insane.”
“He was nearly on his side turning to the last water – the ground looked very close”
Laura Collett
Laura Collett on British team performance in eventing World Championship cross-country
Laura paid tribute to her team-mates and their rides. Britain has extended their gold medal position from the dressage phase, and head into showjumping with a three-fence advantage over Germany.
“I’m so proud of all the horses,” Laura says. “They are all real performers. They love the big stage and that’s why they do it. They come round the corner to the startbox all lit up thinking, ‘finally, there’s a lot of people to cheer us along’.
“The crowd was insane from start to finish and that really gives us a boost and I think the horses enjoy it.”
Eventing World Championship cross-country results: individual standings
The top six individual standings are:
- Michael Jung / fischerChipmunk FRH (GER) 23
- Ros Canter / Lordships Graffalo (GBR) 23.4
- Laura Collett / London 52 (GBR) 23.6
- Tom McEwen / JL Dublin (GBR0 28.6
- Christoph Wahler / D’Accord FRH (GER) 29.4
- William Coleman / Diabolo (US) 30
Follow the final trot-up with Horse & Hound
Horse & Hound’s live reports service will be covering the final horse inspection from 8.30am (UK time) on Sunday 16 August, so make sure you join us to stay abreast of the latest developments, followed by the showjumping phase, which begins at 12noon (UK time).
- To stay up to date with the latest news and reports throughout the Aachen World Championships, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.