Great Britain’s second team rider Tim Gredley said he was “very disappointed” with his 12-fault round on day one of the European Showjumping Championships at the San Siro racecourse in Milan, Italy (30 August-3 September).
Riding the Unex Competition Yard’s 11-year-old Medoc De Toxandria, Tim hit the second fence then quickly toppled another pole coming into the first of the three doubles on Uliano Vezzani’s track. The combination, who were part of the winning Nations Cup team at Hickstead recently, then picked up a further four faults at the Longines oxer before finishing very well in a decent enough time of 76.95sec.
The faults are converted into seconds to add in this first qualifying competition for teams and individual athletes at the European Showjumping Championships, leaving Tim with a total of 88.95sec. That left him floundering in the lower half of the leaderboard in 66th position at this early stage.
“Already at the first fence, Medoc just didn’t really make the jump like he normally makes. Then he made two mistakes that he never normally makes. In hindsight he felt a bit tired – he’s had a long year – but he’s been jumping so good up till now.
“Hopefully the other guys on the team can get a couple of scores in.”
Tim said that the way Medoc finished his opening round “is maybe the only positive”.
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“Tomorrow’s another day, but yes, I’m very disappointed and I wasn’t really expecting it to be honest. If I didn’t know who I was riding, I would have thought they were just two very green mistakes at the beginning,” added Tim. “He really wasn’t even looking at where he was going. These table C speeds don’t really suit him. He’s not a fast horse.
“It didn’t go as planned and we have to pick ourselves up and do better tomorrow.”
Tim added that the gelding has taken him from “two-stars last year to a championship this year”, and said: “So you know, you have to look on the bright side. He’s been amazing for my career. I’m loving it and this is what I wanted to do. But when you come to these championships, you know where you need to be. And today I wasn’t.”
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.
