Riding the Irish Sport Horse Pacino Amiro, the 27-year-old Irishman didn’t touch a pole en route to 82.67sec and into second spot at this stage.
“It’s important to get a good start, and now we’re hopefully into it for the week,” said Bertram, who only arrived at the event the previous day (9 August). “We had to get straight into it, and that’s where I am very lucky that my horse is totally brave and genuine. Nothing fazes him, he was really relaxed.
“The round felt great, but it felt like quite a long way to ride! It’s longer than most grands prix.”
Solid Irish start at World Showjumping Championships
Earlier in the morning, Bertram’s compatriot Denis Lynch had bagged the first clear of the day on Brooklyn Heights, but in a relatively slow time of 88.43sec to take 19th after the second rotation. Bertram was 28th into the ring, about a third of the way through the start-list, so the problem spots had started to become apparent.
The second rotation of team riders was chasing a target of 81.02sec, the lead currently held by Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts and his mare Katanga VH Dingeshof, who jumped clear.
“She has a small stride but she jumped well and I tried to go as quick as possible without going too crazy,” said Nicola. “By nature she’s very quick and she has an unbelievable record this year. It’s a long way to go but that was a good start.”
Speed is essential in this class, with a few of the first-rotation riders making the top spots despite a rail down. Four-faulter Marcus Ehning held second on Stargold (83.88sec with the additional four added) after the first rotation, but the second group’s riders have pushed him down the order.
Swiss rider Pius Schwizer had been putting in an eyecatching round at a good pace when he and his partner Vancouver De Lanlore had a miscommunication at the triple bar into the final double and the dark bay by Toulon stopped. They wound up with a total of 93.83sec.
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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.
