Main image: Chris Burton and Shadow Man. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
Inside Paris | Presented by International Horse Breeders
The dressage wrap up
“I think we’re going to see Chris Burton go for the jugular. I think he’s going to try for 22 penalties.” – Heath Ryan, Saturday morning prior to the start of the dressage.
“I think the judges have in mind they are going to produce an Olympic record for the individual winner of the dressage section; my feeling is that’s the way the scores are migrating.” – Heath Ryan, at the main break in the dressage.
Well, many things have happened since Heath Ryan consulted his crystal ball on these two occasions. Our very own Chris Burton has scored 22 on Shadow Man, and we saw an Olympic record score of 17.5 from Great Britain’s Laura Collett and London 52. Germany’s Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH scored 17.8, also beating the previous Olympic record of 19.3 posted by David O’Connor and Custom Made at Sydney 2000.
Here’s what Heath had to say:
It’s Sunday, it’s 3am in the morning. The Eventing dressage in Paris has just finished and this report is going to be quick.
The results do not look how I had imagined they were going to. Chris Burton from an individual point of view absolutely held on to our best predictions and turned in a score of 22 penalties. Absolutely magical. This has Chris tying for third position with the Chinese rider Alex Hua Tian and Jilsonne van Bareelhof.
Chris is just over a rail away from the leader, Laura Collett on London 52, so Chris Burton and Shadow Man are very serious contenders for an individual gold medal, providing they are as good as we have been promoting. Having said that, we did promote a 22-penalty dressage test, which is something that Chis and Shadow Man have never produced until today!
This partnership at the moment is reaching right out here, and living up to all our most hopeful of hopeful expectations. Chris Burton is in form, and is a very serious threat with Shadow Man for the Paris Olympic 2024 individual gold medal.
The Australian team score is disappointing. We have a score of 91.5 penalties, and we are currently in 8th place., When you study the bronze medal, that is France on 81.2 penalties. We are 10.3 penalties away from the bronze medal. Before midday (AEST) Sunday 28 July, we will have an analysis on the French team and their likelihood to go clear without jump penalties or time penalties on the cross country Sunday evening (6.30pm AEST).
This will give us a much clearer idea of just how close we to a team bronze medal. Of course this is assuming that New Zealand (fourth, 83 penalties), Japan (fifth, 87.4 penalties), the USA (sixth, 88.9 penalties), and Switzerland (seventh, 89.6 penalties), all of whom are in front of us, are going to have cross country penalties and we are not.
It’s possible. We are not done yet!
For those of you who watched the dressage, I hope you enjoyed it. Certainly the judges were pretty stodgy to start with and that was not to our advantage having drawn second out. Having complained about being so early in the draw, I do need to point out the Germans were the first team out and they did dig in and are holding down team silver with a team score of 74.1 penalties. The German rider Michael Jung and Chipmunk FRH were brilliant as individuals and are holding down the individual silver medal position.
Great Britain was out of this world. And the leaders, Laura Collett and London 52, have just set a new Olympic record scoring 17.5 penalties, or 82.5%. You had to see it to believe it. Michael Jung has to consider himself mighty unlucky because he is sitting on 17.8 penalties or 82.2%. Had it not been for Laura, he would be the new holder of the Olympic record. It was a record smashing competition of the highest level.
The cross country tomorrow has to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen from an aesthetic point of view. EQ Life will bring its report and analysis of what we predict is going to happen on cross country tomorrow to you by mid-morning and you can find it on this website. This report will include start times and individuals to watch out for. I am aware that people have been asking for information on where the toughest fences are and just how I think it will ride, I promise you the report will have all of this.
Cheers,
Heath
Kevin McNab and Don Quidam scored 34.9. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
Reporting from the first half of the competition
Halfway through the dressage phase of the Eventing, and I have to say that right at the moment it hasn’t been the best start for Australia – but all is not lost, we have two solid scores.
As expected, the first riders out were marked a little harshly and that really impacted us with Shane Rose the second rider out riding Virgil (Vivant x North Pole xx, by Distinctly North) behind Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21 (Numero Uno x Orchidee, by Lorentin).
Quite frankly I thought that Julia’s was a magnificent test, and I think it probably should still be in the lead.
Shane went in conservatively and that was not as well received as Shane was probably hoping. He had a shemozzle in the second flying change; it was late, with all the bells and whistles that go with it. That was not good for this type of test, which is all canter! It was still a solid test though for Shane Rose and Virgil, and they scored 34.6; perhaps a little harsh after seeing the tests that have since followed.
Shane Rose and Virgil scored 34.6 in the dressage phase. Image by Michelle Terlato Photography.
As we’ve moved through the draw, the judges have started to free up. Tom McEwen and JL Dublin (Diarado x Zarinna, by Canto) came round Julia with a 25.8. Tom did a nice test, but I have to say I didn’t think it was as good as Julia’s. I think the judges have freed up as the comp has gone on, with riders down the list a little bit in particular scoring higher, so this has not been good for Shane. Riders that were under-doing it a bit have started to be scored more generously, so Shane is experiencing a migrating of riders past him that he would normally be on top of.
Belgium’s Karin Donckers and Leipheimer Van ‘T Verahof (Vigo D Arsouilles STX x Southern Queen, by South Gale) were a surprise packet to score 26.6, and that was a nice test – but still not as good as Julia’s in my opinion.
Kevin McNab and Don Quidam (Quidam x Nairoby, by Amethist) were part of the second rotation of team riders. Kevin has scored 34.9, and that’s also a little disappointing. Kevin went out and had a real crack, and he looked great but paid the penalty in the walk just before the canter strike off, where Don Quidam anticipated and was breaking. He also had anticipation in the halt and rein back, when Don Quidam didn’t really halt and was fidgeting. The judges marked him down for those mistakes and that was not helpful – despite many other parts of the test looking really good.
At the end of the first session when all nations had their first riders go and all had one score, we were tenth of 16 teams. Still, plenty of water to go under the bridge.
So we’ve got two scores down for Australian that are solid but we’ll have to wait until the end of the dressage to see where this leaves us. At the moment we are going to be battling a little bit.
I think Chris Burton is very good and is likely to produce a very good test with Shadow Man. I think by the time Chris goes in, the scores will be starting to go up further. I think the judges have in mind they are going to produce an Olympic record for the individual winner of the dressage section; my feeling is that’s the way the scores are migrating. Watch this space! Hopefully that’s good news for Chris Burton.
The third rider to go for each team is usually the ace in the pack; the judges are going to respond to that. All is not lost. Chris Burton has a reputation that goes before him. The judges will know who he is and will recognise a good test if he pulls out something special. That is the sort of thing Chris is able to do.
We did see one Italian combination eliminated due to blood in the mouth. Under the Olympic rules, Emiliano Portal and Future were given 100 penalties, and team can now bring in their reserve rider for the cross country phase at the cost of another 20 penalties. Coming in for tomorrow’s cross country for Italy will be Pietro Sandei and horse Rubis de Prere.
I would suggest don’t turn your TVs off; there is amazing action still to come!
