Rowan Dixon finds out what’s behind former World and Olympic Champion Blyth Tait’s comeback plans
‘Why? Well why not!” smiles Blyth Tait. It’s the question that every-body’s been asking since the former World and Olympic eventing champion announced he was coming out of retirement for a tilt at the London Olympics.
And it’s a question he’s not entirely sure he can answer. He’s been thinking about it for a number of years, missing the sport he lived and breathed. At the age of 49, he is acutely aware that it is now or never. With his racehorse breeding and pre-training operation scaling back, the timing was right. Another drawcard was the fact the Games will be held in London, as Blyth has a large network of contacts and support, including former owners and sponsors, in the UK. The final kick in the pants was the success of the New Zealand eventers at the Kentucky WEG, where after many years in the doldrums Kiwi riders were back on the podium, bagging team and individual bronze medals.
“At WEG, it was clear the New Zealand team had a depth that has been missing for a good decade – and that was a big part of my final decision. I want to be involved with a strong team… if I’m lucky enough to be in the team, of course!”
Blyth is a gentle, smiling, genial type of guy. That’s one of the reasons he has such a soft and empathetic way with horses – he’s a persuader, a negotiator, not a dictator. But the amiable persona doesn’t ever quite mask his utterly single-minded, almost merciless competitive streak. Blyth doesn’t do it to make up the numbers. He’s not there for the experience. He wants to win, and specifically, he wants to win a team Olympic gold medal – a prize that has so far eluded New Zealand eventing, even in the glory days.
“And I’d like to think I could contribute to that possibility, not hinder it,” he says.
He is well aware of the negative comments made in some quarters when Mark Todd famously made his comeback, in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, along the lines that the old guard had “had their day and should step aside to let the young ones have a go.”
And so he’s prepared for the fact that his news might provoke a similar reaction.
“But I just can’t get my head around that thinking. I simply don’t understand it. Whoever deserves to be in the team will be in the team. Jock Paget and Clarke Johnstone are doing so well, and I don’t think people in New Zealand realise how successful riders like Tim Price and Jonelle Richards and Lucy Jackson are in England. And of course, Andrew Nicholson has an extraordinary string of good horses and new focus on championships. There’s Mark, and Caroline Powell has learned how to be a winner. It’s a great time for New Zealand eventing.
“We are a small nation, with a small population, and we need to be as strong as we can be.”
But, he hastens to add, it’s “a bit ridiculous” to be talking about Olympic selection, let alone a gold medal performance, when he hasn’t as much as ridden around an Intermediate track on his new horse, Santos.
The come-back horse, Santos
Ah, Santos. Blyth can’t wipe the grin off his face when the conversation turns to his brand new equine partner.
Getting the right horse was – obviously – a major. Blyth went shopping in Australia, and in the UK, but in the end found what he wanted lot closer to home. Santos, who is better known as ‘Ace’, was produced and ridden to four-star level by Auckland’s Jenna Mahoney, who in a lovely serendipity, was Blyth’s working pupil for a year when he was in the UK, and who has retained a quarter share.
What was it about the slightly unassuming, 16.1hh former racehorse, who is by well-known NZ eventing sire Grosvenor, that did it for Blyth?
“He just suits me. I like small, nimble horses; I’ve never ridden a 17hh horse successfully. He reminds me a lot of Chesterfield, who I just adored, and shares his wonderful, willing attitude.
“He’s been beautifully produced. He’s solid in all three phases. He’s a well put-together, neat horse with a deep girth, good limbs and a great topline. He’s got a wise head and he never puts his ears back. And with Jenna, he successfully went around Adelaide, so he’s made the step up to four-star. I don’t have to wonder if he will – because I don’t have time for that!”
So Santos had the right mileage, and at 12 was the right age. Blyth has privately admired the horse for years, recalling with pleasure seeing his first cross-
country round at two-star level at Taupo.
The slight snag is that he wasn’t really for sale. But Blyth and Jenna go way back, “and her arm was able to be twisted.”
Jenna has a successful thoroughbred racehorse training business, and knew she wasn’t really in a position to travel to Europe to take the horse any further.
And best of all, Blyth knew that the horse had been produced in a way he can quickly connect with.
“He’s sound, he goes in a snaffle, he doesn’t need a martingale… look, I just trust Jenna completely and this horse is just so solid in all three disciplines. He’s not a complex character to ride. There were plenty of horses I tried in the UK especially who were nice, but who had some difficulty in one phase or another, and there was a high risk I’d spend lots of money and find that six months later there would be a quirk I couldn’t iron out.
“He is just the right horse for me.”
Santos is also – at least Blyth fervently hopes so – the right horse for the London Games. The word is that the cross-country track at Greenwich will be twisty, surprisingly undulating and massively influential – the opposite of the big, bold course at the Kentucky WEG – and a winning horse will be one who handles on a dime.
Though he hasn’t competed in eventing for six and a half years, having bowed out at Burghley 2004, Blyth hasn’t been far from horses.
He was Eventing NZ’s high performance manager for four years, and has conducted coaching clinics around the country, as well as running his racehorse breeding and pre-training farm.
He’s ridden most days, and has even jumped the odd horse, and while he lacks matchplay he’s still as fit, lean and hungry as the Blyth of old.
He’s also acutely aware of the major changes the sport has undergone over the last decade.
“The short format was well established when I was last competing, and I don’t think that has taken the skill of cross-country riding away, though it has taken some of the endurance side of the sport away.
“The main difference is in the dressage – it has evolved significantly and has become more of an influence on the overall result.”
The show jumping phase, he believes, has suffered as a direct consequence.
“If I was being critical – and this is not direct criticism of any one rider – when I watch international events I am always very impressed with the dressage, and very unimpressed with the show jumping, and I think it’s because the accent on collection means horses have lost some of the soft forwardness they used to have.”
Blyth and Ace leave for England at the end of March, while partner Paul O’Brien will remain in New Zealand for the short term at least until the couple’s Chesterfields farm south of Auckland is – hopefully – sold. The aim is to make it to Burghley in September.
“I’m not nervous at all, though clearly I will be rusty. But I can’t wait!”
Perhaps surprisingly, Blyth doesn’t consider himself a natural, even though he is still the only eventer to hold both World and Olympic titles, and was the FEI’s top-ranked rider for almost a decade.
“I’m not saying I’m not talented; obviously you choose a sport you are good at. I’ve got a decent eye for a fence, but I don’t find dressage natural.
“But my success was nothing to do with luck. I cope really well with pressure – whenever I’d go into show jumping without a fence in hand I’d invariably jump clear. I thrive in that kind of situation, and I think I can help foster that winning attitude in a team environment.”
What is not in the plans is building a big string of horses again, a là Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson.
Blyth knows what hard slog that is, riding from dawn till dusk, and it doesn’t appeal. He’d like to find at least one back-up horse, but doesn’t want to have more than two or three in work. He’ll be based at Eddy Stibbe’s yard in Gloucester, which he describes as horse heaven, with a massive indoor arena and even a horse jacuzzi.
“I don’t consider this as going back to my riding career. It’s going to be 16 months of my life of challenge, fun, and hopefully success. I don’t plan to run an eventing yard again – I want to come back to New Zealand to live after the Games.
“This is my last hurrah!”
Blyth’s brilliant bounty
1990: Individual and team gold (Messiah) at Stockholm WEG, second at Badminton (Messiah), fifth at Burghley (Ricochet).
Blyth and Messiah
1992: World ranked number one, individual bronze and team silver (Messiah) at Barcelona Olympics, second at Burghley (Delta).
1993: Second at Badminton (Ricochet).
1994: World ranked number one, won Bramham (Aspyring), second Badminton (Delta).
1996: Individual gold (Ready Teddy) and team bronze (Chesterfield) at Atlanta Olympics
Ready Teddy and Blyth in action
1998: Individual and team gold (Ready Teddy) at Rome WEG, won Burghley (Chesterfield).
2000: Won Kentucky (Welton Envoy)
2001: Won Burghley (Ready Teddy)
Santos fact file
Breed: Thoroughbred
Breeder: Fayette Park Stud
Height: 162.5cm
Sire: Grosvenor
Dam: Lady Emily (Auction Ring)
Career highlights: Second in Advanced at Puhinui in 2009, second at Taupo CCI3* in 2009, eighth at Adelaide CCI4*in 2009, second at Horse of the Year Show CIC3* in 2010, fifth in CIC3* World Cup at Kihikihi in 2010.