‘He’s the world’s greatest trier’
Tim Price matches his wife Jonelle’s Badminton victory by winning his first four-star on British soil, riding a horse who has experienced all the ups and downs of the top level
TIM PRICE’S quiet, elegant horsemanship and patient temperament delivered him a much-deserved Burghley victory on one of the sport’s most genuine characters, Ringwood Sky Boy.
The New Zealander was second after dressage by less than a penalty to Mark Todd, who led that phase only to crash out on the cross-country for the second year running. This enabled Tim to take the lead after an almost-perfect cross-country round.
The top four going into showjumping were all within one rail of each other, but when the three British riders below Tim all lowered one, he had a fence’s-worth of breathing space.
It was possible that he might need it — and more; 15-year-old Ringwood Sky Boy had only once jumped clear at a three-dayevent —when finishing second at Burghley in 2015 — and in his younger days he could skittle the coloured poles.
But Tim, looking as though he was jumping a practice round at home rather than chasing the biggest win of his career, stayed completely cool and soft-handed. Although Ringwood Sky Boy rubbed one or two poles, he remained focused on the rider he knows so well and produced a clear round — always the most satisfying way to win a four-star.
No Kiwi athlete has ever gushed, but Tim’s beaming smile showed how much it meant to triumph at Burghley on a horse he bought for £3,000 and with whom he has endured plenty of lows, as well as highs.
“I thought if it did go well, it would just be like another day, but it’s not, is it?” he said.
When, after cross-country, Tim was asked about his prospects for the final phase, he said: “He’s not the world’s best showjumper, but he’s the world’s greatest trier.” His belief in and knowledge of the horse carried them to the title.
The fact that it was Ringwood Sky Boy who gave Tim his first British CCI4* win added further charm to the story of eventing’s number one couple; although Varenna Allen owns the greater part of the horse, Tim sold a smaller share to Robert Taylor to fund the engagement ring he gave his wife Jonelle.
There was nothing surprising about this Burghley victory. Tim and Jonelle have now won the last three CCI4*s run worldwide. Jonelle took Badminton eight months after giving birth to their first son, Otis, then rode the crest of that wave to success at Luhmühlen, and now Tim, who won Luhmühlen himself in 2014, has drawn level with his wife in terms of victories at the sport’s highest level. Both in their late 30s, the Prices have worked long and hard since arriving from New Zealand 12 years ago to build the solid foundations for which they are now being rewarded.
“We have great horses, great owners and a great team, and we are at a stage where we can make full use of that,” said Tim. “It’s about believing in your preparation and the methodology of that.”
The Prices form the backbone of New Zealand’s World Equestrian Games (WEG) squad in Tryon later this month and not many would bet against them being on top of another podium in two weeks’ time.
‘HE TURNED PROFESSIONAL’
THE plane to Tryon flies without Oliver Townend who, second on last year’s winner Ballaghmor Class, finished best of the British again at Burghley, as he has done at every four-star he has contested for a calendar year. He betrayed barely a flicker of the inward turmoil he must feel at being left behind, concentrating on expressing his pride in the trio of horses he rode at Burghley, all of whom went clear across country.
Ballaghmor Class, who, like Ringwood Sky Boy, is by Courage II, may have finished a place higher in 2017 on his CCI4* debut with a similar performance
on paper, but his 2018 showing was much more assured. The flea-bitten grey, owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and
Val Ryan, was one of only four horses to make the time across country and, although he had one showjump down again, it was a more confident, mature round.
“For me, he turned into a professional this week,” said Oliver. “Last year we flew by the seat of our pants; this year we looked after each other and the feeling he gave me across country is the best I have ever had from a horse.”
Oliver also finished 12th on Angela Hislop’s Cooley SRS, while Tom Joule’s MHS King Joules, the highest placed of Oliver’s triumvirate after dressage in third place, was withdrawn before the final trot-up.
Andrew Nicholson knows Burghley as well as he does his own garden, and he notched up a 35th completion at the event in superlative style as the only rider to finish on his dressage score in third place on Swallow Springs. There is a touch of Avebury, Andrew’s three-time Burghley winner, about this mischievous grey: Andrew says he has to
“ride him like he stole him” to keep his focus and stop him messing around.
“If you pussyfoot around he starts adding in strides and looking at the crowds,” said Andrew.
Watching Andrew guide two Burghley debutantes — Swallow Springs and Jet Set IV — round the cross-country was one of the pleasures of the weekend and, after the retirement of the great Nereo this spring, it is a joy that he has more top-class firepower.
“Although he was second here three times, Nereo always hated Burghley — these two feel like they’ve loved galloping round here,” Andrew said.
Andrew, probably the best judge of a cross-country course in the world, was seen shaking Mark Phillips’ hand on Sunday morning and congratulating him on a good job done. Mark managed to balance Burghley’s reputation as the toughest track in the world with a field that contained a large number of first-timers and some of the very best. He produced a course that frightened the riders in terms of size and its use of Burghley’s hills, but which was easily readable and rewarding to the well-trained horse.
TRICKY BUT TALENTED
SARAH BULLIMORE’S second place at Pau last year on Reve Du Rouet may have slipped under the public’s radar, but she was properly lauded for fourth place at Burghley with a horse whose temperament has so often prevented his undeniable talent from winning through.
The 14-year-old, who belongs to Sarah’s husband, Brett, and Christopher and Susan Gillespie, kept his cool in all three phases. If this pattern of behaviour is now set, he could go on to more podium finishes at this level in the next few years.
“He’s unbelievably talented, but incredibly difficult in his brain,” said Sarah, who posted one of only eight showjumping clear rounds.
Piggy French was rather ruing what might have been — fifth place on last year’s runner-up, Trevor Dickens’ Vanir Kamira, was excellent by most standards. But the very best want more than that, and a first CCI4* win still eludes this first-class horsewoman and competitor.
Harry Meade has turned Away Cruising, sixth, into a proper four-star horse. He has condensed the 11-year-old’s naturally long, flat stride enough to showjump well — only one fence came down. At the same time he has developed his gallop. That, along with
Harry’s innate and unerring skill across country, meant his round in that phase, only four seconds over the time, was one of the best of the day.
Richard Jones (Alfies Clover) and Willa Newton (Chance Remark) proved themselves at this level with seventh and eighth places — and both showjumped clear, which was notable.
Ireland’s Elizabeth Power whizzed effortlessly round Mark Phillips’ 11min 11sec cross-country track eight seconds under the time on Soladoun, a winning ex-racehorse she has had since he was four. To then conjure up a showjumping round with just one fence down for ninth
place, her best at CCI4* to date, demonstrated her class as a rider.
Tina Cook and Star Witness climbed a remarkable 51 places from 62nd after dressage to 11th, which shows what a clear cross-country round inside the time can mean at this level. More than anything, it was a great personal prep run for WEG, and Tina should go there with her eye in and confidence high.
She — and the other four
Brits, of whom only Piggy
French was competing at Burghley — will need to be pitch-perfect to beat the New Zealanders. Toddy may have taken a bruising fall on Kiltubrid Rhapsody, but Tim’s win and their unity as a squad means they will be hard to beat.