Lausanne (SUI), 23 August 2011 – Clarke Johnstone (NZL) was celebrating with a large bottle of champagne, part of his spoils from Haras du Pin (FRA), where he finally sealed victory in the FEI World Cup Eventing 2011.
“I’ve just flown five horses from New Zealand to England, so I’m not really in credit at the moment!” joked Johnstone. “But this is a very satisfying result and I’m going to enjoy it.”
Johnstone is perennially successful in FEI World Cup Eventing – he finished fifth overall last year – but this time the 24-year-old World team bronze medallist set an unmatchable target right from the start of the season. He scored a win and a third place in his native New Zealand, at Kihikihi, and when he also triumphed in the next event in the series, at Sydney (AUS), the dye was cast.
For good measure, Johnstone completed Haras du Pin (FRA), the seventh and final event in the 2011 series, in sixth place on Kihikihi winner Orient Express, but his overall series victory was assured even before the competition started at the French venue.
Another of the younger riders, Christopher Burton (AUS), tracked Johnstone all the way, only finishing four points shy to take second place in the series.
Burton put up a magnificent fight. Having slotted into second at Kihikihi (NZL) and second and fifth at Sydney (AUS); riding the same two horses, Newsprint and Holstein Park Leilani, he then finished second and third at Haras du Pin to close the gap. But even if he had won the series climax, he would still have been an agonising one point in arrears behind Johnstone.
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