‘She’s proved she’s world class’: home-bred mare dispels her rider’s doubts with cracking Badminton debut while top-10 contenders fall
Several top contenders have dropped out of the reckoning over the Mars Badminton Horse Trials cross-country course, with run-outs and falls featuring alongside a few excellent rounds. While two popular Brits, David Doel and Kylie Roddy, took tumbles, two European riders caught the eye to move into the top 10.
The reigning Lumühlen champions Lara de Liedekerke-Meier and her home-bred Hooney D’Arville consolidated a decent dressage mark of 31.7 with a cracking effort to add 13.6 time-faults, to move up from 22nd.
Lara, from Belgium, gave plenty of vocal encouragement to Hooney, and it seemed to work. Lara was worried beforehand that the accumulation of massive fences may overface this careful mare, who responded brilliantly to her positive and confident ride.
“When you breed a horse and ride it from the first day, you don’t dream of going to Badminton or winning a five-star,” said Lara “You keep questioning if you are too ambitious, but today she proved she’s world class.
“My dad bought the dam against the advice of everyone as she failed the vet three times, but sometimes your life is a connection of meeting the right person on the right day, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t that horse.”
Badminton final scores
Also making the trip across the Channel, Jérôme Robiné rode a beautifully tactful round on his European Championship ride Black Ice. After a disappointing dressage test on this great mover for 35.2, the German admitted he thought the course was “nothing like I’m used to!”.
But Jerome made it look so easy, skimming round in superb balance on this striking black horse, for 14.4 time-faults, which puts him in the top 10 at this stage.
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Young Brits’s mixed fortunes on Badminton Horse Trials cross-country
Tom Woodward had been the surprise star of the dressage phase, slotting into sixth on 27.9 on his debut. Aged just 23, and riding the joint-oldest horse, 18-year-old Low Moor Lucky, Tom set out looking like he meant business, but after a run-out early on at the Agria Corners (fence 7), he walked off the course.
He did pop over the corner neatly on the second attempt but put his hand up to retire. The horse may well be rerouted for another five-star target after this early finish.
Another young Brit, Alice Casburn, also 23, had a better time.
She and Topspin knocked the flag at the second element of the Agria Corners (fence 7), where two horses later Manuel Grave ran straight past it. His horse Carat De Bremoy had 20 penalties at the Mars Lake, and was eliminated at the Ineos Grenadier Sunken Road.
Alice issued a big growl to encourage Topsin over the ditch in the Holland Cooper Corner. Her daily ditch practice duly paid off, as she negotiated all the big ditches without a hitch. She finished clear, 35sec outside the time, with Alice allowing Topspin to canter home over the last few fences in his own time.
“I had a couple of questionable shots everywhere and he helped me out,” said Alice of the 17-year-old home-bred. “I had a plan A, but went down to plan X at the end. It’s tough out there, it’s always hard work here, but he dug deep.”
Dan Jocelyn, the oldest rider in the Mars Badminton Horse Trials cross-country phase, enjoyed a comfortable clear on Blackthorn Cruise, who was 21st here in 2023.
“I feel we have this great partnerhship, and had a fantastic time out there,” he said. “Yes we’re a minute over the time, but he was picking up at the end – I couldn’t be happier.”
Dan explained that he took a couple of long routes.
“I felt we didn’t get in the sync from the practice arena to the first jump, I just lost the feel, so I was a tiny bit cautious because of that,” he said, “but we got into it and one you’re through the Lake you can take a deep breath.”
Two falls on Badminton Horse Trials cross-country
David Doel seemed to be coasting round on the big-striding Galileo Nieuwmoed, until they had a bit of a wobble at the LeMieux Eyelash Brushes (fence 19abc). The horse dived at the final angled brush element, but David was ready in the defensive position and barely lost any momentum.
Unfortunately this lovely bold round came to an abrupt end at Huntsman’s Close (fence 26a), when the horse took off a trifle early and slid over the massive first corner. Galileo slithered on to the ground as the frangible was activated, and David hit the turf. Galileo was quickly up on his feet, while David looked winded before he too walked away.
Kylie Roddy’s Badminton bad luck continued when she took an early fall on SRS Kan Do.
The pair had produced a stellar dressage test of 30.1 to lie in 14th but couldn’t capitalise. SRS Kan Do stuttered down the Savills Staircase at fence 4abc, so needed to stretch to get over the enormous haywain. He banked it, and with Kylie off balance, tipped her out of the plate.
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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.