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‘I lost my stirrup, I wasn’t even in the saddle’: Bubby Upton makes extraordinary save to avoid a ducking as she continues Pau redemption mission on ‘the best horse I’ve ridden’
Bubby Upton is best of the Brits on Pau cross-country, moving up to second place behind Tim Price, while Tom McEwen unveils a new star on the five-star stage
“This year was what we call redemption,” said Bubby Upton at Pau after her fast cross-country clear on Its Cooley Time over a troublesome track moved her up to second place overnight behind Tim Price and Jarillo.
In 2025, the grey was vying for a win at Pau when Bubby fell off just a few fences from home – blaming herself for denying the horse a five-star victory on his debut. This year, she completed a scintillating display – with one superb save from a dunking in the influential first water – to post the second-fastest time of the day with 3.6 time-faults.
“The first water didn’t go to plan,” Bubby said. “I don’t know what happened, if he put back on the first triple brush but that’s cross-country. I saw the water and thought ‘nuh-uh, not again’. Last year we were foot perfect and I ended up on the floor.
“In that split second, I thought ‘I’ve still got four strides to get to that next fence, we're jumping it’. I wasn't even in the saddle, I had no stirrup, but he was still looking at the flags because I definitely wasn’t. I was just seeing water, then managed to get back in the saddle, one stride and bang there was the second triple brush. He was extraordinary in that moment.
“I’ve had him since he was five and it just shows the relationship we have, the love and time we put into him, he repays us in situations like that.”
Bubby added: “What a horse, what a fighter – he’s class through and through. In my eyes I prevented him from winning a five-star on his debut, a tough pill to swallow. But we’ve come back with a vengeance. That round was unbelievable.”
“I saw the water and thought ‘nuh-uh, not again’”
BUBBY UPTON
Bubby explained that she has to ride Its Cooley Time – owned by Susan de Zuleta, JAne Dear, Susie Holland-Bosworth, the Duchess of Norfolk, Hilary Russell and herself – “completely different to all my other horses”. She’s gone back to the drawing board after the pair had three international falls in a row – with help from Andrew Nicholson and Chris Bartle – to find the key to this “most talented horse I’ve ever ridden”.
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“I’m a positive attacking rider and because he's a brave as a lion, nothing fazes him, that doesn't work – I have to be very precise and take no fence for granted,” says Bubby, who’s also lying 17th on Cola. “I’m used to plugging along every stride, whereas Its Cooley Time is like a rocket ship.”
Bubby climbed from eighth after dressage to within just two penalties of Tim, with Jonelle less than two penalties behind in third on Senor Crocodillo, meaning one showjumping rail covers the top three.
Five British riders in top 10 after Pau cross-country
Bubby Upton was best of the Brits over the Pau cross-country, but there were plenty of impressive performances.
Tom McEwen made a fabulous debut with the nine-year-old Quintus, who made light of Pierre Michelet’s tricky track to take fifth spot overnight, dropping one place from dressage. Tom described him as an “utter legend” after he found a fifth leg a few fences from home.
“I decided to take four strides down to the corner [at fence 28bc], thought I was perfect but he caught a leg,” he said. “To be honest, I was sideways and thought ‘I really hope he puts a leg down’ and the foot did come down and I thought, ‘unfortunately Quintus, there’s one more element to go’, and he picked right up on a tight distance. What a horse, an utter legend.”
They were rapid, too, adding just eight time-faults, which was among the six fastest of the day.
“It’s not easy here, we’re used to our British distances whereas here they’re really open so you’ve got to ride with your brain,” he said. “Quintus is a big horse with a big stride, he was awesome.
“He feels slow on top, but unbelievably easy as his stride eats up the ground,” Tom added. “He’s a proper horse but we’ve got many more good days to come.”
Tom McEwen and Quintus at the “Oops” drop – which was followed on a bending line to a huge, narrow skinny
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
“What a horse, an utter legend”
Tom McEwen on Quintus
Izzy Taylor’s debutant climbs the ranks
Izzy Taylor brought three horses to Pau, and it was five-star first-timer SBH Big Wall who fared best of the trio. He clocked 9.6 time-faults with a clear round to move up from ninth after dressage to sixth.
“It felt like a five-star, it wasn’t pretty, was hard work, but he was superb,” she said. “There are a lot of questions out there. Our horses aren’t trained the French way, and the French courses are mentally difficult for them and us riders. It’s very different to a Badminton or Burghley. It’s very reactive cross-country and you have to be on your A-game.”
“SBH Big Wall and I have our own way of doing things, we add strides. In time when we build confidence in each other, we’ll take strides out, but you ride what you’re sat on at the moment. He is a very quick horse and a cool dude.”
Izzy had to rebuild after retiring at fence nine – where Bubby had her brilliant save – after two refusals with Barrington Alice.
“Alice was green – she landed flat after the broken bridge [fence 4], which gave her a shock,” she said. “But I said to myself, ‘don’t you dare sulk in the truck, give yourself a shake, you’ve got some really good horses, that was just a mistake’. So a bit of tough talk!”
“I said to myself, ‘don’t you dare sulk in the truck, give yourself a shake!’”
Izzy Taylor
The two other Brits in the top 10 were Lizzie Baugh on Piltown Concorde, who made a dazzling rise from 38th to eighth overnight; and Willa Newton, lying 10th on Camilla Behrens’ Hartacker. Both horses are making their five-star debuts.
“He gave me a great ride,” Lizzie said of her own and Janette Shipley’s 10-year-old. “He helped me out in places where I needed it and I’d like to think I helped him out a when was a little bit green. He was gritty and stuck with it and stayed with me.”
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.
