Maiden win ‘worth the wait’
A young Andrew Nicholson never dreamed it would take him 37 attempts to finally conquer the Badminton Horse Trials.
But the Kiwi rider, now aged 56, finally won the event in England yesterday to break his record as the competitor with the most attempts without a win.
Nicholson, riding 17-year-old Nereo, never thought he would be waiting this long to finally win.
‘‘Not when I went the first time time,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought it was going to be easy.
‘‘Thirty years ago when I was going there thinking I had a chance. I actually had no chance even before I left home,’’ Nicholson said.
‘‘When you’re young you’ve got to walk the walk and try and do the job.’’
He said in the last 10 years he’s been a lot closer and has learnt from his mistakes.
‘‘It was a massive result. I’ve been 40 years trying to get it. It was worth the wait.’’
The result was even better considering Nicholson had what could have been a career-ending neck injury from a fall in 2015.
It also came after he missed the Rio Olympics last year after he pulled out of Equestrian New Zealand high performance squad.
But Nicholson didn’t want to dwell on that and he believed the win at Badminton was a continuation of his strong form from last year when he won the the Bramham International on Jet Set IV.
‘‘I had a very good year last year. You might not think so because I didn’t appear at the Olympics.
‘‘I was the only New Zealand to win a major international last year. I was the best New Zealand rider last year internationally in the world rankings and I was fourth in the world rankings last year.’’
At this year’s Badminton trials, a strong cross-country round from Nicholson on Sunday (NZ time) put him in third place ahead of the final showjumping round.
‘‘I thought I knew the course before I started the cross-country. I thought I didn’t really want to be
"I had a very good year last year. You might not think so because I didn't appear at the Olympics." Andrew Nicholson
in the lead after the cross-country because I did that two years ago and it didn’t work.’’
He said he thought if he could be in third place and near enough to the other two riders, it would pressure them into doing something.
‘‘I went into the showjumping and I could have two rails down and still keep my place.
‘‘I focused on trying to keep a clear round and keep pressure on the other two.
‘‘I beat the Olympic champion on his Olympic horse and another Olympic medallist on their course. To do that is quite something.’’
Nicholson and Spanish-bred chestnut Nereo – a horse not known for showjumping prowess – picked up a single time fault in that discipline with a carefully ridden round, to finish on 41.4 penalty points.
That put the pressure on the two German superstars – defending Badminton champion Michael Jung aboard La Biosthetique Sam FBW, who came into the showjumping in second place, just behind Ingrid Klimke aboard Horseware Hale Bob Old, who looked on track to become the first woman in a decade to take the title.
But it wasn’t to be, with Jung adding four faults to finish in second place on 44 penalty points, and Klimke an uncharacteristic 21 to drop well out of contention.
Also on the podium at Badminton was New Zealand’s Tim Price and Xavier Faer in third with 49.2 penalty points.
Mark Todd and NZB Campino were fourth on 50.4, and Todd was also sixth with Leonidas II on 58.1.
Nicholson was 12th with Qwanza on 67.9, who also won the prize as best mare.
He has had Nereo since he was a four-year-old, and the chestnut has always been one of Nicholson’s favourites.
Nicholson intends to ride the Chatsworth International next weekend, and after that Bramham, Barbury and Burghley.