Former British team stalwart Daisy Berkeley has returned to compete at Mars Badminton Horse Trials after a 16-year gap, scoring 32.9 with Diese Du Figuier to sit joint 18th after her test on the second day of dressage (Friday 8 May).
Daisy last rode at Badminton in 2010 on Spring Along – the cheeky little bay who took her to European team gold, world team silver and Olympic team bronze – finishing third.
“If I got a fiver for every time someone mentioned that, I wouldn’t need to win this,” Daisy said. “Last time I was wearing a top hat – on Spring Along, and he finished third. I thought, ‘That’ll do me, I don’t need to come back here.’ And here I am again.”
The “petite, but beautifully balanced” 13-year-old gelding Diese Du Figuier, second at Blenheim CCI4*-L last year, was making his five-star debut.
“It was a really good start,” said Daisy. “I think I probably slightly underrode him in his changes – they’re normally just really spot on and beautiful, and I was a bit wet, which meant they weren’t as good as they could be. He did a little head toss in his walk, and that brought us down to a five.
“He’s such a spooky horse in real life. I can’t walk him on the grounds where it’s wetter in one area, he can’t go near it. If he’s in an arena and someone’s harrowed it, the floor is lava. So to go in there with all that going on and not bat an eyelid, I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Daisy had originally planned to take Diese to Pau last autumn, but a training setback intervened.
“I said to his owner, ‘Let’s just run him at Burnham,’” she said. “And he went double clear. I thought, ‘Badminton is only up the road, rather than carting him all the way to the moon. He likes being on grass. He likes jumping on grass. He likes dressage on grass more than he does on a surface. So, why not?’
“If it comes off, brilliant. If it doesn’t – we haven’t found out in Pau.”
Looking ahead to the cross-country on Saturday, Daisy said the long break hadn’t dulled her feel for the place – partly because she’s been at Badminton most years anyway, working with the on-site radio team.
“It really doesn’t feel like that long,” she said. “I’ve been here every year in some capacity – I’ve always walked the course, so I’ve seen it gradually evolve. I’m hoping he’ll show that bit of fight tomorrow and not be too polite.”
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