Sarah Bullimore’s Corimiro, who pulled off a clear cross-country clear one second inside the optimum time today at Mars Badminton, is home-bred by the rider.

The 10-year-old by Amiro Z was so poorly when he was born that he spent the first day of his life at Rossdales Equine Hospital in Newmarket.

“He wasn’t a totally straightforward birth and I think, had we not been there — I broke the bag — maybe he wouldn’t be with us,” said Sarah.

“He was slightly dummy foal and did spend the first 24 hours in Rossdales. Then he woke up, and I went back the next day and there was a little foal frolicking around the field.”

Sarah competed Corimiro’s dam, Lilly Corinne, at five-star level and won individual bronze at the 2021 European Championships aboard Corouet, another home-bred out of the same mare.

“They’ve all got similarities and you think, oh my goodness, that’s just like Lily,” said Sarah. “Funnily enough, they all sleep like her. We’ve got pictures of Lily when she was a foal, and even the way she sleeps now, they’re all similar and look really cute with their knees tucked in.

“But they’ve also got different traits. It is fascinating — and the more we breed, apparently you can never have too many horses!”

‘My husband is lower in the pecking order’

Sarah is seeking her seventh Badminton completion, her best placing to date being 18th aboard Reve Du Rouet in 2018.

She was top of the leaderboard two hours into today’s cross-country phase following that fast clear from Corimiro, who is co-owned by her husband Brett, Christopher and Susan Gillespie, and Bruce Saint.

“He [Corimiro] is the reason I’m still doing this and the reason I get out of bed in the morning,” smiled Sarah. “He’s just a pleasure. Every phase is a pleasure — hacking, everything he does, he just wants to go and do a good job.

“He’s always saying, come on, let’s, let’s do the next thing. He’s got a great brain.

“He has such scope and such range and power. You can probably tell I’m a little bit rose-tinted about him, but there’s also a lot of other people that really quite like him too.

“My husband knows he’s lower in the pecking order than him.”

Main image by Tim Wilkinson

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