Britain’s Bubby Upton leads the way at the halfway stage of the first day of dressage at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials (7 May).
Riding her mother Rachel Upton’s 16-year-old gelding Cola (pictured top), Bubby posted the only sub-30 score so far, for a mark of 29.8.
“He was really good, but I would say he was on the on the edge, which is how he’s been all year, to be honest, being a little too fresh,” explained Bubby. “But we managed to navigate our way through. I wouldn’t say it was a perfect, polished test, but with him being more established at the level now, and him being such a beautiful horse, he has such kind of natural presence anyway.”
Bubby said that Cola is “getting stronger and stronger”.
”We’ve been reaching his best work in the past of couple of years and now he is established, our warm-up is only about 15 minutes long, but actually today I felt like I probably needed five minutes more, so we went in a little bit on eggshells.
“I had to ride my first couple of movements very quietly, just to ease him into it, and then he felt like he got into the groove, particularly after the walk, and then his canter was very good.”
Bubby went on to explain that she has worked hard with her team to nail Cola’s feeding regime, as he has been a fussy eater in the past.
“He looks a million dollars today and that’s thanks to my team, but he used to be difficult to get right weight-wise because he’s very, very fussy. He might have looked a little lean in the past for that reason, but now, with the help of Saracen Horse Feeds, we’ve really got his diet down to a tee and he’s come into this week a bit heavier than normal and in the best possible shape.”
Georgie Goss, who previously rode under the British flag but now rides for Ireland, sits in second aboard the smart 16-year-old mare Feloupe, who Georgie owns alongside Lucy Fleming, Suzanne Doggett and Kelly Holmes. They scored 30.8, with Georgie rueing a mistake in one of their flying-changes, which prevented them from breaking the 30 barrier.
“I’m delighted with the test, but I’m just a bit annoyed and disappointed with myself,” said Georgie, who is the only person to have completed Badminton 10 times from 10 starts. “She never misses the changes and is usually bang on, but I missed that first change.
“The judges never give big marks on a Thursday morning and I would have liked to have been closer to the 27/28 mark, but there we go.”
Sarah Bullimore rounds off the top three with the promising 10-year-old gelding Corimiro, who is owned by her husband Brett Bullimore, Christopher and Susan Gillespie and Bruce Saint, on a score of 32.1.
“I’m a little bit disappointed – I feel like I let him down,” reflected Sarah, who bred this son of Amiro Z alongside Brett. “The trot work was lovely and his changes are normally beautiful and a highlight, but they just weren’t quite on the button today.
“He is only 10 and this is his first Badminton and obviously the atmosphere is nothing like he has experienced before, so it was a step up for him, but he loves the crowd and perhaps he loved them a little too much today, as we weren’t on the same wavelength.”
Tom Jackson is currently in fourth with five-star first timer United 36 on 32.1 and Katie Magee lies fifth with Treworra on 33.3, ahead of Gemma Stevens and Chilli Knight in sixth on 34.
There are another 16 riders due into the arena this afternoon, with China’s Alex Hua Tian set to round off the first day of dressage on Chicko at 4.21pm.
Images by Tim Wilkinson
