Third Place Sinead Halpin joins Chris to recap the weekend, Mary King in first and second place. It was a great weekend with some real twists; tune in right here…
Eventing Radio Episode 139 by Bit of Britain – Show Notes and Links:
Mary King, riding Kings Temptress. Photos credit Stock Image Services.com, provided by Rolex.
Mary King (GBR) today, Sunday 1st May 2011, held her nerve, and her overnight lead, to finish in first and second position after the final Show Jumping phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington.
William Fox-Pitt riding Neuf Des Coeurs finished in 4th position and Oliver Townend riding ODT Sonas Rovatio was 6th, with both riding clear rounds in the Show Jumping.
Quotes from Mary King/Kings Temptress: “I was much too excited to get much sleep last night – I ended up watching a film at 2am in the morning! I was fairly calm today, I always feel that with three day events that yesterday is the big day, you want to get through it and your horses to be well, and today whatever will be will be – you just have to go in there, try and keep calm, ride each fence and try and forget about all the crowds around, and you sort of feel whatever’s going to happen is going to happen and hope they are going to pick up their feet and that it all works out!”
Lexington, KY (USA), 30 April 2011 – Great Britain’s Mary King is the one to beat in tomorrow’s final jumping phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics. The Devon-based rider holds the lead aboard Kings Temptress while the Portuguese-bred Fernhill Urco is two penalties behind in second.
“I never dreamed that I would be in this position when I left England,” said King. “They are two very different horses. Kings Temptress is very experienced at this level and was fluent all the way round. Fernhill Urco has no experience at this level and he was a bit green at the first water but he improved the further he went.”
A clear jumping round for 2.8 time penalties sees Australia’s Clayton Fredericks in third with Be My Guest, a rise of seven places through the scoreboard following the Dressage.
“The first time I walked the course this week it was under water but today I thought it was perfect going,” said Fredericks. “After watching Mary spin round inside the time I thought the ground was going to be fast but actually it did take its toll, particularly later in the day.”
USA's Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
Lexington, KY – Great Britain’s Mary King was unstoppable on cross-country day at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone. She guided two horses around Derek di Grazia’s course to claim the top two places on the leaderboard. Australia’s 2007 winner, Clayton Fredericks, sits third on Be My Guest and Sinead Halpin jumped up to fourth in her first CCI4* with Manoir de Carneville, to lead the assault on the USEF National CCI4* Championship.
King cruised around on Kings Temptress, her 11-year-old homebred mare. She was one of only three double-clear rounds all day and jumped her way from fourth after the dressage, to the top of the leaderboard on a score of 47.7. With her less experienced horse, Fernhill Urco, she used all of her expertise to guide the Portuguese-bred gelding home for owners Sue and Edwin Davies in his first try at this level. Second after the dressage behind American rider Tiana Coudray, Fernhill Urco kept his position even after he picked up eight time faults. His score of 49.7 means his stablemate doesn’t have a rail in hand.
“The mare was pretty fluid all the way around,” said King. “I was amazed, galloping along thinking how good the ground was. The mare had a fairly fault-free round and she was quite easy with the time.”
Mary King and Kings Temptress. All photos credit Stock Image Services.com, provided by Rolex.
Mary King (GBR) today, 30th April 2011, is currently lying in both first and second position after the Cross-Country phase at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington. Rolex Grand Slam contender Mark Todd (NZL) is lying in 18th with his horse Grass Valley after a run out late on in the course.
William Fox-Pitt riding Neuf Des Coeurs is lying in 6th position and Oliver Townend riding ODT Sonas Rovatio is in 7th place.
Quotes from Mary King/Kings Temptress: “I was a bit too fast. I was slightly back at nine minutes, and I pressed her and she really responded!” “The ground was amazing. If this had been a horse trial in England, it would have been cancelled days ago!” [Horse’s third 4-star]: “I bred this mare, and looking back on how awkward she was at her first event, and how she’s adapted to make it work is very rewarding. The course rode very much as it walked, which shows what a fabulous course designer he is.”
Tiana Coudray (USA), Riding Ringwood Magister. All photos credit Stock Image Services.com, provided by Rolex.
Tiana Coudray (USA) today, 29th April 2011, is currently lying in first position after the final day of Dressage at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, in Lexington. Rolex Grand Slam contender Mark Tood (NZL) is lying in joint 17th with his horse Grass Valley.
William Fox-Pitt riding Neuf Des Coeurs is lying in 19th position and Oliver Townend, riding ODT Sonas Rovatio is in 26th place.
Current Standings:
1. Tiana Coudray (USA) riding Ringwood Magister, 40.8
2. Mary King (GBR) riding Fernhill Urco, 41.7
3. Allison Springer (USA) riding Arthur, 42.3
4. Mary King (GBR) riding Kings Tempress, 47.7
5. William Coleman (USA) riding Twizzel, 48.2
6. James Alliston (GBR) riding Jumbo’s Jake, 48.2
7. Kim Steverson (USA) riding Tipperary Liadhnan, 48.5
8. Sinead Halpin (USA) riding Manoir de Carneville, 48.7
9. Boyd Martin (USA) riding Remington XXV, 49.0
10. Clayton Fredericks (AUS) riding Be My Guest, 50.2
=17. Mark Todd (NZL) riding Grass Valley, 51.8
Further news and details are available on www.rk3de.org.
After winning the 2011 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials on NZB Land Vision earlier this week, Mark Todd enters ‘Rolex’ as the live contender for the coveted Rolex Grand Slam title. With one of three legs of the Rolex Grand Slam complete, Todd must now win at both the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, in order to become only the second rider, after Pippa Funnell, to scoop the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam for winning the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, all in succession. So far the Rolex Grand Slam feat has only been achieved by Pippa Funnell, who won all three competitions in 2003 on two different horses.
Mary King (GBR) Riding Fernhill UrcoAlison Springer (USA), Riding Arthur
Mary King holds a remarkable record as a British team member over the course of three decades and we hear from her daughter Emily who has ambitions to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Take a listen to this exclusive interview right here…
Eventing Radio Episode 131 by Bit of Britain – Show Notes and Links:
Mary King and Apache Sauce have a two-point lead after the first day of Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. (Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI)
2 September 2010 – Mary King (GBR) showed all her experience to take the lead after an eventful first day of Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), the fourth leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.
King, 49, has been riding at Burghley for more than 20 years – she won it in 1996 on Star Appeal – but a momentary lapse in concentration which meant she had to correct an error of course will have cost her valuable marks.
Riding the 14-year-old white-faced chestnut Apache Sauce, fourth here in 2008, she missed part of the final canter work and, on arriving at halt, had to be interrupted by Ground Jury member Marilyn Payne (USA).
“I haven’t done that for years,” a smiling King said afterwards, confessing to a “blonde moment”.
