New Zealand is off to a flying start at the eventing World Championships holding the top two spots after the first morning of dressage – while Gemma Stevens leads the British charge.
Jonelle Price and Senor Crocodillo delivered a new personal best as a combination (27.2) to sail into the lead after the second coffee break, toppling team mates Clarke Johnstone and Rocket Man (28.7) from their lofty perch.
Jonelle Price and Senor Crocodillo at the eventing World Championships in Aachen today (Thursday, 13 August).
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Clarke is now in provisional second, closely followed by Gemma and Flash Cooley, who charmed the judges with their elegant, correct work. A hiccup in the flying change on the final centre line – a movement several have found tricky – was the only difficult moment in an otherwise lovely test.
Gemma explained that Flash Cooley thought they were halting and went to stop, which led to the muddle.
“It was a real shame to lose that mark because that's actually been a real highlight in training. But the rest of it was so good, and he was so relaxed, so with me, and a real pleasure to ride,” said Gemma, who rides the 14-year-old gelding for Pru Dawes.
Gemma, back on a British championship squad for the first time since winning team gold at Tryon 2018, shared fascinating insight into how she mentally prepared for the pathfinder role.
“I knew that if I was going to be on the team that’s where I would be,” she said. “I’ve done it before, so they know I can do it. I’ve actually trained myself a few times this year to go out with no information at all on a course.”
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Of course Gemma walked those courses in advance, in this context she means that she has gone out without the benefit of feedback from other riders.
“I did it at Royal Jump with him, I did it at Burgham with Chilli Knight – I've done it a few times just in the thought that it might happen. It's just a case of training your mind,” she said.
Senor Crocodillo heads New Zealand one-two
Senor Crocodillo heads the all-grey top three at this early stage.
The 12-year-old, owned by his rider and Alexander and Joseph Giannamore, has proved before that he can do a sub-30 test, but is more often found lingering around the 30 to 33 bracket.
Today he looked a horse who knew he should be at the top of the leaderboard, showing a relaxed confidence in his performance.
“He’s a quiet achiever, he’s not really my normal genre,” said Jonelle. “He is a fairly steady sort of guy, a little bit of a plain Jane, but he's just such a trier.
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve really been able to start solidly building a test – a pretty cool time to come out and show him at his best. I’m delighted.”
Clarke and Rocket Man, flagged by H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome as dark horses to watch at this year’s championships, held the lead for much of this morning. The 11-year-old is owned by Clarke’s parents, Jean and Rob Johnstone.
“I was pleased with it, it was probably one notch down from what we could have done if it was as good as possible,” said Clarke, who acquired the gelding from Britain’s Eliza Bell in 2023.
“I thought that arena might have lit him up a little bit, but he was totally relaxed, and sometimes he's better when he’s just a fraction not so relaxed. But he did everything I asked.”
He added: “We had a small mistake in the halt to rein back. Otherwise, everything happened where it was supposed to and I thought there were some real highlights.
“He’s a beautiful horse, he’s really lovely to ride and to train. He has been to Aachen before, but this is his first championships, and he took it all in like a pro.”
Dressage disappointment for top US pair at eventing World Championships
Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake were among the favourites to be in the mix at the very top of the leaderboard after dressage at the FEI World Championships, such is their strength in this phase.
Their test started well, but a few costly blips meant that their mark of 32.4 is adrift of where we would have expected to see them, based on previous form.
HSH Blake shows such lift and expression through his beautiful frame, which made their early trot work a joy to watch, and they were rewarded with a smattering of eights, plus a nine, from the judges.
“I’ll go home, work harder, and then come back swinging”
Caroline Pamukcu
The 11-year-old gelding unfortunately picked up the wrong lead on the transition to counter canter, for which they scored fours across the board. A little hiccup in one of the later changes was also expensive.
“I have a lovely horse. He’s a very, very special guy. So obviously I’m pretty disappointed because I know we could do better – I could do better, not him. I didn’t give him the ride I wanted to today. But it is a sport, and that’s a fun thing about sport,” she said.
“I’ll go back and reflect. There are always a lot of things, but I’ve got an incredible team at home and with our federation. They gave me all the opportunities to do the best we can today, sometimes it just falls short. It is what it is.
“I’ll go home, work harder, and then come back swinging.”
Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
