THE HORSE MAGAZINE

June 2004

Athens Closing In…

Right now the Australian selectors in all three Olympic disciplines are up to their necks in deep consideration.
It is now certain that Australia will get one spot for a dressage combination. Ricky MacMillan is the standout selection of the moment, followed by Mary Hanna, who not only has Limbo but also Pretender. Pretender is currently in Germany with Hubertus Schmidt, originally with the intention of re-sale but such has been the horse’s success on the German circuit, not just at small shows, that Mary will now re-consider and fly to Germany with Limbo, to compete on both horses. Mary is the ultimate competitor and is not out of Olympic consideration yet.
Kristy Oatley-Nist still has time to find some of her awesome Sydney Olympic form and does have a number of horses, headed by the stallions, Don Bolero and Quando Quando.
Also, Stirling Stilton is still over there in Germany going great guns with Martina Hannöver, and who knows? Just maybe I will go over and become part of the final dog fight!!
Talking of dog fights, the Australian Eventing selectors have got all hell breaking loose around them. The easy part is that the Rolex Kentucky 3DE has been and gone, and Phillip Dutton has seriously firmed up his place in the Athens Team. In the CCI**** Phillip was second on Nova Top, and in the Olympic format class (run without steeplechase or roads and tracks) was again second on Hannigan. Phillip is in awesome form and is such a seasoned ‘Gladiator’.
Badminton was however a nightmare. The course was big and super unfriendly. It rained and it rained and out of the first fifteen riders to start cross country, only seven actually crossed the finish line and only one of these was a clear jumping round but completing well over a minute over the optimum time!
The statistics did improve but at the end off the day, out of 80 stars, some 30 didn’t finish.
The highest placed Australian was Andrew Hoy on Mr Pracatan, in 5th place. He did a good dressage with 41 penalties which placed him 4th. He had a great cross country round going clear yet incurring 26 time penalties (in the conditions, time was impossible to get, with the fastest time coming from New Zealanders, Kate Wood and Witch Doctor – even they had 15.6 time.) This promoted Andrew to third after the cross country, however three rails down in the showjumping moved Andrew and Mr Pracatan back to 5th. You do just hate those rails down, especially as the overall Athens results are likely to change much much more as a result of the showjumping phase. Never-the-less this performance will firm Andrew in as number 2 Gladiator in the Athens team. Andrew still has Master Monarch up his sleeve, and he is a better and more careful jumper than Mr Pracatan but he still struggles in the dressage phase. I believe that Master Monarch will start at Punchestown on the first weekend in June in the Olympic format class.
The next Australian at Badminton, just behind Andrew, in 6th place was Sam Griffiths on Private Colin. This horse is pretty fancy. Sam scored 51.6 to come =19th in the dressage. The leading test scored 36.6 so Sam’s test was okay. Cross country, Sam and Private Colin put up a great performance to go clear with just 25.6 time penalties. This brought them up to 7th place. Then they had a very good showjumping round to have only one rail hit the ground and again they moved up a place to finish sixth. Now the easiest thing would be to ignore this results as a ‘one off’ and not include Sam in the Olympic Squad, saying that Badminton just turned out to be such a tough competition that the factors which decided the winner and placegetters are different to the factors which will decide the winner and placegetters at Athens.
However, Sam was also in the top ten at Blenheim 3DE and I don’t have all his other results at hand, but it’s enough to say that he has performed well prior to Badminton. This was not just ‘one off’. Bloody hell, I think an Australian player from left field has just played a pretty serious trump card!! Now what are the selectors going to do with that?!
The next Australian was Sammi McLeod and Enchanted. They did a super test to score 45.6 for 10th position. Cross country saw them have a run out at a big apex which was related to a big apex a few strides earlier. Enchanted just didn’t get her eyes on the fence early enough and blundered on past it, before realising it was there to be jumped. Nevertheless, Sammi and Enchanted still clocked up the fifth fastest time, just 19.6 penalties, which is hard to believe, allowing they also had a run out. This left a cross country penalty score of 39.6 and moved Sammi back to 13th position. Enchanted then had four rails down on the final day which added another 16 penalties, and so Sammi and Enchanted end in 16th place. From all reports Sammi and Enchanted looked just awesome on cross country. So just what does that do to Sammi’s Athens chances? Certainly it doesn’t firm up her selection chances like a result further up the leaderboard would have. I guess the big question is, just how relevant do the Australia selectors think the Badminton results are, allowing for the unique type of competition it turned out to be, in indicating which Australian riders are most likely to do well at Athens. It now appears that Enchanted was suffering from the effects of the flight over, and was actually tieing up a little in the warmup for the showjumping, as blood tests subsequently revealed.
Without a shadow of doubt, the Olympics in Athens will be a very different type of competition to Badminton, and the characteristics and strengths need in a combination to win Athens may well be at odds with the characteristics and strengths needed to win Badminton. The Australian Selectors are now facing a very difficult job.
The next Australian to finish at Badminton was Paul Tapner on Highpoint. This combination had a good dressage score of 44.8 penalties to finish the phase in 9th position. Cross country they had 37.2 time, and went clear in the jumping department to leave them in 10th place. Showjumping was a bit of a problem with 5 rails down and 8 time penalties, which converts to another 28 to add on, and so a final placing of 25th.
Highpoint does do good dressage, he also does seem to struggle with the time on cross country in the big events. Showjumping is also an achilles heel. It is, however, possible that the Olympic format may be easier on this combination without the extensive endurance needed at the traditional 3DEs. Also if Highpoint were fresher on showjumping day, as indeed he would be in the Olympic format, is he then likely to improve the showjumping phase.
The next Australian was Matt Ryan on Bonza Puzzle right behind Paul Tapner in 26th place. Puzzle and Matt did a good dressage for 44 penalties and 7th place. Cross country saw Puzzle stumble at the double of apexes where Sammi and Enchanted ran out, and so too did Matt and Puzzle. Matt said later that he just didn’t really present to the second apex, so it was sad. Matt incurred considerable time penalties after taking his foot off the accelerator and so finished cross country with 69.2 penalties. Interestingly enough, Puzzle jumped one of only five clear showjumping rounds the next day.
Just what Matt’s chances are of making the team from here are hard to say. Certainly this performance hasn’t helped! Matt’s second horse, Bonza Katoomba, is, like Andrew Hoy and Master Monarch and Wendy Schaeffer and SunGlo, heading to Punchestown for the Olympic format class.
Next Australian combination was Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Hallmark. Megan did a great test for 42 penalties and sixth place after the dressage. Cross country it just wasn’t Megan’s day, with Hallmark just crumpling in the awkward Sunken Road fence, which popped Megan out of the saddle. Megan is made of tough stuff and just got right back on, and damn well finished. The fall and time sort of added up to something like 179.4 extra penalties.
Megan and Hallmark then did a good showjumping round the next day for just one rail down. They finished in 50th place. I think from here it’s nearly going to be impossible for Megan to make the Athens team. Her day will come. There aren’t many players in the world who are as determined and tough and bold and really really nice as Megan Jones.
The other Australian to leave our shores, Badminton bound, was Chris Burton with Woodmount Spry. They did a dressage test of 57.8, which was okay, and left them in =36th. Cross country day was just not the great day that Chris and Spry had hoped for, with Spry falling coming out of the sunken road. The fall of the horse is elimination so that was that for Chris and his team. My god it’s a long way home, and I know that Chris and his girlfriend, Lucy Bennet are really really short on money. Ouch! Nothing fair about this world.
The other Australian at Badminton who I haven’t mentioned was British based, Bill Levett. Bill had two horses at Badminton, and didn’t finish with either, so I am sure he will forgive me for not lingering on him too much this time around.
Finally, my very first superstar horse, Stirling Shade has passed away. I owe him just so so much, and I am grateful to my wife, Rozzie for writing his obit in Transitions this month.
Cheers, Heath

Ryans Rave Index

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	AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER ONE EQUESTRIAN MAGAZINE
		June 2004 Athens Closing In… Right now the Australian selectors in all three Olympic disciplines are up to their necks in deep consideration. It is now certain that Australia will get one spot for a dressage combination. Ricky MacMillan is the standout selection of the moment, followed by Mary Hanna, who not only has Limbo but also Pretender. Pretender is currently in Germany with Hubertus Schmidt, originally with the intention of re-sale but such has been the horse’s success on the German circuit, not just at small shows, that Mary will now re-consider and fly to Germany with Limbo, to compete on both horses. Mary is the ultimate competitor and is not out of Olympic consideration yet. Kristy Oatley-Nist still has time to find some of her awesome Sydney Olympic form and does have a number of horses, headed by the stallions, Don Bolero and Quando Quando. Also, Stirling Stilton is still over there in Germany going great guns with Martina Hannöver, and who knows? Just maybe I will go over and become part of the final dog fight!! Talking of dog fights, the Australian Eventing selectors have got all hell breaking loose around them. The easy part is that the Rolex Kentucky 3DE has been and gone, and Phillip Dutton has seriously firmed up his place in the Athens Team. In the CCI**** Phillip was second on Nova Top, and in the Olympic format class (run without steeplechase or roads and tracks) was again second on Hannigan. Phillip is in awesome form and is such a seasoned ‘Gladiator’. Badminton was however a nightmare. The course was big and super unfriendly. It rained and it rained and out of the first fifteen riders to start cross country, only seven actually crossed the finish line and only one of these was a clear jumping round but completing well over a minute over the optimum time! The statistics did improve but at the end off the day, out of 80 stars, some 30 didn’t finish. The highest placed Australian was Andrew Hoy on Mr Pracatan, in 5th place. He did a good dressage with 41 penalties which placed him 4th. He had a great cross country round going clear yet incurring 26 time penalties (in the conditions, time was impossible to get, with the fastest time coming from New Zealanders, Kate Wood and Witch Doctor – even they had 15.6 time.) This promoted Andrew to third after the cross country, however three rails down in the showjumping moved Andrew and Mr Pracatan back to 5th. You do just hate those rails down, especially as the overall Athens results are likely to change much much more as a result of the showjumping phase. Never-the-less this performance will firm Andrew in as number 2 Gladiator in the Athens team. Andrew still has Master Monarch up his sleeve, and he is a better and more careful jumper than Mr Pracatan but he still struggles in the dressage phase. I believe that Master Monarch will start at Punchestown on the first weekend in June in the Olympic format class. The next Australian at Badminton, just behind Andrew, in 6th place was Sam Griffiths on Private Colin. This horse is pretty fancy. Sam scored 51.6 to come =19th in the dressage. The leading test scored 36.6 so Sam’s test was okay. Cross country, Sam and Private Colin put up a great performance to go clear with just 25.6 time penalties. This brought them up to 7th place. Then they had a very good showjumping round to have only one rail hit the ground and again they moved up a place to finish sixth. Now the easiest thing would be to ignore this results as a ‘one off’ and not include Sam in the Olympic Squad, saying that Badminton just turned out to be such a tough competition that the factors which decided the winner and placegetters are different to the factors which will decide the winner and placegetters at Athens. However, Sam was also in the top ten at Blenheim 3DE and I don’t have all his other results at hand, but it’s enough to say that he has performed well prior to Badminton. This was not just ‘one off’. Bloody hell, I think an Australian player from left field has just played a pretty serious trump card!! Now what are the selectors going to do with that?! The next Australian was Sammi McLeod and Enchanted. They did a super test to score 45.6 for 10th position. Cross country saw them have a run out at a big apex which was related to a big apex a few strides earlier. Enchanted just didn’t get her eyes on the fence early enough and blundered on past it, before realising it was there to be jumped. Nevertheless, Sammi and Enchanted still clocked up the fifth fastest time, just 19.6 penalties, which is hard to believe, allowing they also had a run out. This left a cross country penalty score of 39.6 and moved Sammi back to 13th position. Enchanted then had four rails down on the final day which added another 16 penalties, and so Sammi and Enchanted end in 16th place. From all reports Sammi and Enchanted looked just awesome on cross country. So just what does that do to Sammi’s Athens chances? Certainly it doesn’t firm up her selection chances like a result further up the leaderboard would have. I guess the big question is, just how relevant do the Australia selectors think the Badminton results are, allowing for the unique type of competition it turned out to be, in indicating which Australian riders are most likely to do well at Athens. It now appears that Enchanted was suffering from the effects of the flight over, and was actually tieing up a little in the warmup for the showjumping, as blood tests subsequently revealed. Without a shadow of doubt, the Olympics in Athens will be a very different type of competition to Badminton, and the characteristics and strengths need in a combination to win Athens may well be at odds with the characteristics and strengths needed to win Badminton. The Australian Selectors are now facing a very difficult job. The next Australian to finish at Badminton was Paul Tapner on Highpoint. This combination had a good dressage score of 44.8 penalties to finish the phase in 9th position. Cross country they had 37.2 time, and went clear in the jumping department to leave them in 10th place. Showjumping was a bit of a problem with 5 rails down and 8 time penalties, which converts to another 28 to add on, and so a final placing of 25th. Highpoint does do good dressage, he also does seem to struggle with the time on cross country in the big events. Showjumping is also an achilles heel. It is, however, possible that the Olympic format may be easier on this combination without the extensive endurance needed at the traditional 3DEs. Also if Highpoint were fresher on showjumping day, as indeed he would be in the Olympic format, is he then likely to improve the showjumping phase. The next Australian was Matt Ryan on Bonza Puzzle right behind Paul Tapner in 26th place. Puzzle and Matt did a good dressage for 44 penalties and 7th place. Cross country saw Puzzle stumble at the double of apexes where Sammi and Enchanted ran out, and so too did Matt and Puzzle. Matt said later that he just didn’t really present to the second apex, so it was sad. Matt incurred considerable time penalties after taking his foot off the accelerator and so finished cross country with 69.2 penalties. Interestingly enough, Puzzle jumped one of only five clear showjumping rounds the next day. Just what Matt’s chances are of making the team from here are hard to say. Certainly this performance hasn’t helped! Matt’s second horse, Bonza Katoomba, is, like Andrew Hoy and Master Monarch and Wendy Schaeffer and SunGlo, heading to Punchestown for the Olympic format class. Next Australian combination was Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Hallmark. Megan did a great test for 42 penalties and sixth place after the dressage. Cross country it just wasn’t Megan’s day, with Hallmark just crumpling in the awkward Sunken Road fence, which popped Megan out of the saddle. Megan is made of tough stuff and just got right back on, and damn well finished. The fall and time sort of added up to something like 179.4 extra penalties. Megan and Hallmark then did a good showjumping round the next day for just one rail down. They finished in 50th place. I think from here it’s nearly going to be impossible for Megan to make the Athens team. Her day will come. There aren’t many players in the world who are as determined and tough and bold and really really nice as Megan Jones. The other Australian to leave our shores, Badminton bound, was Chris Burton with Woodmount Spry. They did a dressage test of 57.8, which was okay, and left them in =36th. Cross country day was just not the great day that Chris and Spry had hoped for, with Spry falling coming out of the sunken road. The fall of the horse is elimination so that was that for Chris and his team. My god it’s a long way home, and I know that Chris and his girlfriend, Lucy Bennet are really really short on money. Ouch! Nothing fair about this world. The other Australian at Badminton who I haven’t mentioned was British based, Bill Levett. Bill had two horses at Badminton, and didn’t finish with either, so I am sure he will forgive me for not lingering on him too much this time around. Finally, my very first superstar horse, Stirling Shade has passed away. I owe him just so so much, and I am grateful to my wife, Rozzie for writing his obit in Transitions this month. Cheers, Heath Ryans Rave Index