Remembering Sydney 2000 and Gold for Australia, I can still hear it ringing out – Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
Words by Chris Hector and photos by Roz Neave
TEAM EVENTING
After the horrid ten minutes at the first trot out when it looked as if Amanda Ross and Otto Schumaker were going to be sunk before their Olympic bid every really began, the Teams Eventing has been one wonderful day after another.
We knew we had – even after some of the best fell by the wayside – more depth than ever before, we knew we could win a third gold medal in a row, but… Team Management took a bold strategy. Andrew Hoy volunteered to lead from the front, and went out first for the Aussies – third horse after Brazil and Belgium – on the first day. It was a move that backfired, traditionally the scores have always been lower, but Hoy-boy was on song. He worked the big crowd like a trouper, and, one suspects, wowed the judges in the process.
Waving to the big crowd, getting them to let off steam, before shushing them quiet to watch something very very special. A score of 30.60 and at the end of two days dressage, they were still out front – but they had awesome support from the others. Phillip Dutton crafted a lovely test out of the inexperienced House Doctor for a 46, Stuart Tinney produced the test of his life on Jeepster for a 36, and Matt Ryan really held it together on the volatile Kibah Sandstone for a 47.8. That gave us a lead we never ever let slip.
But it wasn’t all going our way. The Brits were not going to give up without a fight. Leslie Law riding SheerH20, was a bit harshly marked on 44, while Ian Stark was somewhat over-generously scored on Jaybee for 39.20. Pippa Funnell was a real star and thoroughly deserved her 32 on Supreme Rock.
Stuart Tinney and Jeepster at the first trot with Jeepster
Karen O’Conner was the best of the Americans riding the sublimely beautiful Prince Panache, on 32.6, with husband David perhaps a little harshly treated on 44, riding another beautiful horse, Giltedge.
The poor Germans had a rotten time in the dressage, with only Ingrid Klimke and Sleep Late – both appearing at their first four star – salvaging something with a relaxed and accurate test for 36.2.
Pre-Games favourites (in certain circles at least), the Kiwis, had a pretty ordinary time. Vaughn Jefferis and Bounce putting in the test of their lives for 40.6, while the other three were in the fifties, Mark Todd and Diamond Hall Red, thoroughly unsettled for 58.6, Blyth Tait and the fragile Ready Teddy on 53, and Paul O’Brien and Enzed (a surprise selection in front of Andrew Nicholson) on 51.
The cross country course was triumph for course builder, Mike Etherington-Smith. It was glorious to look at, and rode exactly right – rewarding the brilliant while not punishing the less experienced.
Andrew Hoy, part of the Gold Medal team with Darien Powers on the Steeple Chase course
Darien Powers was in his element, relishing the cross country, toying with the fences, looking supremely relaxed. We on the other hand were less than relaxed. A couple of strips of tape came loose form the grey’s coronet band, and when Powers was held on course, the rumour flew that he had been stopped for gear equipment failure. Truth was they were scraping up poor Constantin van Rijckevorsel, who crashed and broke an ankle. Team mate, Karin Donckers riding Gormley had a spill on the steeple, and made it Belgian number two in hospital. Seemingly the only major human injuries of the day – while on Japanese horse ended up in the clinic with a major sore paw.
Re-started, and Powers ate up the rest of the course, coming home clear in 12.42 well under the time of 13.05.
Stuart and Jeepster over the hayrack heading for the second water
The only faster clear of the day, came from Stuart Tinney and Jeepster, just exceptional, superb over everything and home in 12.41!
Phillip Dutton used all his wonderful grit and experience to nurse in the inexperienced House Docter – home clear with just 1.6 time and Matt Ryan produced a superbly focussed un on Kibah Sandstone for just 0.40 time!
Phillip Dutton, an Aussie back then, into the water with House Doctor
As Wayne said later, he thought after the dressage and the first couple of runs, we might have broken the hearts of our opposition, but the Brits kept running. A lovely double clear for Jeanette Brakewell and Over To You, and another to a slightly lucky Leslie Law and SheerH20, and while Pippa Funnell had a major whoopsie through the second water but came home clean with just 0.40 time. The only failure for the Brits, was Ian Stark and Jaybee who crashed in the water, and had a stop for come home with 97.2 cross country jumping and time penalties and was withdrawn from the competition.
The Americans had mixed fortunes. Losing their most inexperienced combination, Linden Wiesman and Anderoo, but with David O’Conner home clear with just 2.4 time, wife Karen with just 0.40 time, and even the wayward Three Magic Beans home clear with 20 time, although Nina Fout did not give him a big pat when she fell exhausted from the horse.
Once again it was left to the German rookie, Ingrid Klimke, to shine for the Germans, partnering Sleep Late to perfection, home absolutely nothing to add to the dressage – and you ached for the hundredth time that her Dad could have been there to see her.
The Brazilians were nothing short-of brilliant in their own hair-raising hell-for-leather sort of way. Good horses, and leaving them alone in the air, and they picked up a heap of penalties but they were all still in the event at the end of phase two, with their best rider, Augusto Luiz Faria and Hunefer, clear with just 2.8 time.
For the Kiwis it was a mixture. Todd had the expected clear clear on Diamond Hall Red although it took all his magic, Paul O’Brien had all sorts of trouble on Enzed, and looked pretty shattered by the end, picking up 40 jumping and 19.6 time. Blyth Tait started a little shakily on Ready Teddy but finished in grand style, still on his dressage score of 52. Vaughn Jefferis and Bounce are one of the great partnerships of all time, a lovely clear, sheet artistry – they too are home clear clear… but… Ready Teddy trots up very very lame indeed the next morning. So lame that you wonder if they even tried to present him. He is the only horse spun, all the Aussies look great. House Doctor looks ready for a hack class.
Mary King and Star Appeal for the UK
They Kiwis no longer have a team, and have to go in the early showjumping round before the break. Todd has an okay round, one rail down and 2 time, but there is no moment to farewell this master at his final international event. I hope we get the chance in the individual.
Vaughn apparently decides enough is enough, and declines to make an appearance. It is very sad if Bounce has slunk off the international stage without the grand farewell he deserves. By this time the tension is really killing, sort of sick making. We know that the Archilles heel was always likely to be the showjumping, and we only have two fences in hand over the Brits.
The real butterflies start when Matt comes out on Kibah Sandstone – he is out of the same mare as the great Kibah Tic Toc, and he was pretty scary in the showjumping too. They are going fine until the treble when they knock out A, then Matt has a real miss at the third last, crashing through, almost falling but back with 10 jumping and 2 time. We hope we won’t have to use his score.
Matt Ryan and Kibah Sandstone in the showjumping
Vicente Araujo Neto of Brazil is the Eddie the Eagle of Equestrian. A stout lad, he punches the air after meeting every challenge, after the dressage test, after EVERY cross country fence, but the showjumps are coming up a bit quick for Teveri, and Vicente saves the waves until he gets through the last, I 0 jumping, no time, and what a happy fella.
Jeanette Brakewell should have had the first of the treble down on Over To You, and does have the second out. Five jumping and six time, and we are out to a lead of four fences – unless we have to include Matt’s score.
House Doctor looks super fit but has the third fence down, scrapes over the double, and is jumping now. The first of the treble is down, almost the second element but it stays, the stile is down – one time, and 15 jumping. We are down to a lead of one jump and three points!!!
David O’Connor and Giltedge have one of only three clear rounds within the time, a beautifully judged round.
Leslie Law and SheerH20 have one down, our lead is two, all three of the treble SHOULD have rolled, but didn’t, and he decks the second last. We have three rails in hand.
Stuart and Jeepster. Remember they dropped from silver in Rome in the showjumping? Not today, he is super focussed, riding like the genius he is, just the Stile down and no time. We’ve got two again.
Ingrid Klimke is once again riding like a champion. Sleep Late has just one rail, and no time.
Karen O’Conner kicks out two on Prince Panache and it is a straight two way shoot out between us and the Brits.
Poor Pippa Funnell she is such a nice smiley girl, and Supreme Rock such a lovely horse, and 20,000 otherwise pleasant Aussies in the crowd are putting the mozz on her. Drop one drop one drop one. Down goes the second of the double (double double toil and trouble…), down goes the middle of the treble. Ten jumping and three time, we now have five in hand.
Darien Powers jumps like a stag over the water, Andrew drawing on all his reserves of experience. Blast. Two down in the treble, another down, but we are there, we are there. We’ve won the gold medal for the third time running. The tears are streaming, the cheers are deafening… we have won.
The medal ceremony was one of those moments you wish could go on forever. You wish, yet again, that the old event format of one single event was still in place. Stuart would have won individual gold, Ingrid, silver and Karen, bronze. Still no matter what happens in the Individual, we know that Stuart Tinney has bested the world’s best, and our team is the unchallenged Olympic champions. What an event.
PS. Everyone is worried what will happen to this wonderful course after the Games. Here is a simple short term solution. The Kiwis are still the World Champs, we are the Olympic Champs – okay, next March we have a two way shoot out for the undisputed tide. We’d get another 50,000 people and give eventing and Horsely Park a real kick along. Think about it.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY, AND THE BRILLIANT
I must confess to have very mixed feelings about the Individual 3DE. It was an event forced on us by the IOC.
From 1912 to 1992 we happily ran one three day event, and awarded both team and individual medals. After eighty years, the IOC suddenly discovered that we were awarding two sets of medals for one effort, and Atlanta saw the new format for the first time. It didn’t really work there. In my view, Wendy Schaeffer was the true Olympic champion, having beaten all the best horses in the Team event, but still Blyth Tait had the gold bauble in his trophy cabinet. Here at Sydney, Stuart would have walked with two gold, while Ingrid Klimke would have been fittingly rewarded for her exceptional effort at her first four star, and Karen O’Connor would have gone home with a bronze.
David O’Connor and Giltedge, individual Gold
Still there were some nice tests in the Individual. Andrew Hoy hit the arena, supremely focussed and coaxed out everything possible from Swizzle In, smooth, accurate and worth every bit of the 39.8 he scored. It would have been better – and an a more accurate reflection of reality without the contribution of the new judge, Brian Ross – an American based Brit – who took Miss Mitchell’s place on the judging panel. Mr Ross was way down on Swizzle with a mark of 158, while Mr Obel paid 180 and Brian Schrapel, 183.
Mr Ross was the low judge all morning, then the high judge all afternoon. A score of of 10 for lan Stark’s canter on Arakai, contrasted startlingly with the 7s from the other two judges!
The highlight of the morning was Marina Koehncke and Longchamps. The test was just exceptional, like a REAL dressage horse, and should have scored better than the 34.8 it received (only Fred Obel who is a REAL dressage judge, recognized its quality- he scored it 20 points better than Mr Ross).
Amanda Ross and Otto Schumaker looked wonderful, forward, in such a nice frame, but the horse did get a bit tense at times, and the 8s and 7s were cancelled out by some 5s and 6s. Still with 44.8, Amanda would finish the day in touch with the leaders.
Amanda Ross and It’s Otto in the individual competition
If Marina was the high point of the morning, David O’Connor was truly sublime in the afternoon. Custom Made was so soft, so elegant, so accurate, everything was just foot perfect, and the 8s and 9s started piling up. A score of 29 and worth every bit of it, and a new chant went up in the stand, Yankee, Yankee, Yankee, Oi, Oi, Oi.
Brook Staples’ Master Monarch is only nine, and looks so sweet and innocent, but he is not the biggest mover on the scene. Still it was neat and accurate, a 47.6 would keep them on the pace.
So at the end of the day, it was David O’Connor in the lead, closely followed by Marina Koehncke, with the Greek born, French raised, now British based, Heidi Antikatzidis third on 37.4 for a test that was all class on Michaelmas (by a Thoroughbred out of a show pony) – smooth, forward and trouble free for a score of 37.4. Mark Todd and Eyespy were just 0.8 in front of Andrew Hoy.
Once again, Mike Etherington-Smith built a lovely course, but the real question is, are there really enough four star horses in the world to make up two Olympic events? Sadly it would seem that the answer is no, and the unmitigated joy of the Team event was to be muddied by some truly awful riding and some messy falls. The good horses and riders handled the track with ease, and made time look pretty easy with eleven rounds clear and under time – but there were also thirteen retired or eliminated.
The very first to go, the Belgian pair of Bruno Goyens de Heusch and Graceland Cavalier, had a nasty fall at fence four, the horse wandered off to check out the course, but the rider did not look so keen about continuing. They retired and walked home.
Andrew had a trouble free round on Swizzle In, and was so relaxed that he waved to the crowd as he came to the end. Home in 12.49.3, well below the 13.05 limit. “It was my first four star with Swizzle In, I think it was a better ride than with Darien Powers. I rode more of a personal best with Swizzle In, I had to be more careful. The cross country was one for me to remember.”
Individual Silver for Andrew Hoy and Swizzle In
The falls were coming with sickening regularity and you started to worry about the next day’s press. Nils Haagensen and Discovery II tried to put in a bounce in the middle the footbridge, an impossible try, flipped and Nils was off to hospital with a busted shoulder.
The Brazilian, Roberto Macedo was hair-raisingly spectacular on Fricote, but the final sickening end had to come. The horse flips over the big timber oxer, and lands on Roberto. The horse looks thoroughly knackered, and Mark Todd has an endless wait while the ambulance crew remove the rider. Mark and Eyespy ended up spending half an hour on the course, and Todd was worried about the time, and came in faster than he had intended because he wasn’t sure of the exact amount of time he was held. If it comes down to equal scores after the showjumping then the countback on the optimum time could raise some ticklish questions. Certainly when they did get to jump, Todd and Eyspy looked wonderful, clever and classy and home clear.
Meanwhile, the Bermudan horse Bermuda’s Gold, ridden by Mary Jane Tumbridge, cracks her cannon on the most innocent of fences, the vegetable tray at two. It is not clear whether the injury was sustained on the fence, or on the landing, anyway the horse is obviously terribly injured, and is later put down at the clinic.
Heidi Antikauidis is riding really well, although she has a hairy moment when Michaelmas banks an apex early on the course, but everything else comes up sweet. Home well under time on 12.58.3 and could a dream come true? Could the chances of equestrian surviving at least til after the next Games in Athens have been increased??
lmtiaz Anees has been in Australia for a couple of years, studying at Marcus Oldham, and chasing his dream of riding for India at the Games. Spring Invader\Nest Australian bred, by Bold Invader) is just right for the job, and although lmti has a fall and a couple of stops, he rides the options carefully to come in home. 120 jumping, and 45.6 and another dream comes true!
Mark Todd with Eyespy for NZ
Blyth Tait and Welton Envoy have a runout on the island at the first water, and jumps one more fence, then pulls up and walks home. How would poor Heelan Tomkins be feeling? She wins the selection event in New Zealand and then is told there is no stabling for her as a travelling reserve (while Blyth Tait’s Aspyring is occupying a stall on his way back to retirement in New Zealand).
Andrew Nicholson brings out two horses, Dawdle is kicked after arriving in Australia, but it seems New York came with a problem, and neither of them are even entered. Plus there was a big question over Welton Envoy even before he started. It would seem the Kiwi administrators are taking a very short sighted approach. Andrew Nicholson flew out before the Individual 3DE, so becoming perhaps the only athlete to beat Marie-Jose Perec out of the Olympic city.
Poor Marina Koehncke, she is another to find a problem with the distance at the second water. The horses are jumping in much shorter than anyone predicted, and finding it too hard to get up on the island. Longchamps gets such a fright that he refuses to jump back into the pond, and the fence officials have to cut the ropes to let them find the long way home.
Eddy Stibbe pulls the best stunt at the second water, the horse seems to trot out into the air, but finding no dirt drops rapidly into the water. Eddy sits tight and comes home with wet jods, but no jumping penalties and just 4.8 time.
Amanda looks for determined in the starting box, and it is Go Otto Go. They are clever coming out of the first water, and very lucky not to get a stop at the second water, still they keep running. All the way to the third last fence, the Dog Kennels, where Otto misses, hits the fence on takeoff, and catapults Amanda to the ground. But our girl has grit, she picks herself up, and comes home in 14.12.3.
David O’Connor and Custom Made conquer the course with ease. When things get a bit tight, David just sits there and keeps riding, they are a bit untidy at the second water, but nothing chronic. They cruise home in 12.51.5 to hold their lead going into the showjumping. But there is a big question mark over this horse’s showjumping ability.
Brook Staples’ Master Monarch is so clever coming out of the first water, they just make it but keep coming all the way to the second water where they run out of gas jumping onto the island and have a stop. Home with 20 jumping and 18.8 time.
We are set for another cliff hanger in the showjumping!
At the trot up, poor Enrique Sarasola has Cool Boy spun – and that was a tough call. Eddy Stibbe and Eton are held, but to the cheers of the crowd make it through on the re-inspection. There is an anxious moment when Toddy has to trot out Eyespy a second time – the horse lost a shoe on course – but they pass, and we get our chance to farewell the master in the showjumping.
Two of our Aussies jump in the first section before lunch. Brook has two down with Master Monarch as does Amanda and Otto. There have been three double clears out of ten tries, and the time looks very gettable.
Both Amanda and Brook are proud to have finished, but just a little sad. For Amanda it is only now sinking in. “Looking back you suddenly think, wow I rode at the Olympics! But Brook and I were just talking about it, really it is just another competition. I think I can be a little disappointed at the score board, but I think of the achievement, and how much I’ve gained from it. It’s highly recommended.”
“The horse was so perky when he got out into the atmosphere, and he has felt so good under me in all three phases. In the dressage he trotted into the arena as there was a lot of crowd cheering, and I felt the head go up and thought ‘oh no, please don’t do that…’ I had to keep his head on the vertical without him hollowing out, which was really hard. So a few of the mistakes which he doesn’t usually make in a test were through tension and the atmosphere but I think he held it pretty well together – he didn’t get any worse through the test, he just stayed the same.”
The cross country?
“Up until the first water, up to about 13 he was going really strong. He cantered out of phase A fairly much off his tree – by the time I got to the end of the course, each fence was getting harder and harder to set up because he was getting stiff and really leaning on me. But he just jumped. It was no real problem for him, just one little mistake. It was such a little fence. I said whoa, and there was no reaction, I thought we are going to have to go from here. It was the smallest fence on course and he didn’t really take a lot of notice of it. There were a lot of other fences that he took a lot more notice of, and wasn’t in such fabulous take off. This one, he just really wasn’t listening, and it was in the shade, maybe that influenced it, then – over you go.”
How did it feel to finish the showjumping – finish an Olympic course?
“I suppose it was not a relief, it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it, it was a relief because you’ve achieved it. I still would have liked to have finished it by jumping clear but then there are a lot of other things I would have liked to have ended it by doing … but yeah, the reception from the home crowd, that was amazing.”
For Brook it was much the same.
You rocketed into contention at Badminton at the beginning of the year were you thinking Sydney Games?
“It was a long shot. I was hoping to get here. I knew I had to have a good run at Badminton to be considered. That went better than expected, and I was hoping to do that again here but it just didn’t happen.”
Was it always going to be tough for you in the Individual, the track was never going to be huge enough unless you had a dressage star?
“I was hoping to be a lot further up after the dressage for sure. I only improved two marks on Badminton so it wasn’t much of an improvement. I was hoping to be closer to start with. He wasn’t quite right on the cross country. He pulled a muscle on the chase. He wasn’t galloping and jumping like he normally does. When we went to jump up banks and things like that, the power just wasn’t there. He was alright for the trot up, he’s a tough little bugger. To be the way he was after the steeple and finish the cross country the way he did was amazing.”
Feelings now?
“It’s nice, a relief in a way and I am pleased with what the horse has done but disappointed in the result. I would have been pushing to get a medal because of the flatwork anyway but I expected to go a bit better – that’s life.”
There was a bit of a break then back to the arena for the final stanza…
Individual medals, Andrew Hoy Silver, David O’Connor Gold, and Mark Todd, Silver
Eddy Stibbe and Eton. You have to admire the guy’s persistence Equestrian feel, he may lack, but g & d, no. When he has a fight with the Dutch Federation, he moves his citizenship to the Dutch Antilles (did his dad have to buy the whole island?) and here he is, through to the final phase at the Games. Two rails down and 3 time, but this is another dreamer who has made it come true. This track is no giveaway. Even the mighty Twist la Beige has two rails. The chestnut did the teams dressage before they pulled him out of the cross country when his team mates crashed.
Unfortunately his dressage the second time around was not as good and they finish on a total of 66.4.
American newcomer, Julie Black has had a super clear clear in the cross country and a clear in the showjumping brings up the chant, Yankee Oi.
Ian Stark is also still on his dressage score of 51 on the lovely NZ Thoroughbred, Arakai. One down and he swaps places with Julie.
Karen Dixon is another who has gone clear on the cross country with Too Smart, but a rail down, and Julie is moving up the line.
Britain’s darling, Mary King has one rail on Star Appeal to finish on a 52 total after a clear clear cross country. Italian, Fabio Magni and Cool’n’Breezy (also refugees from the Teams Comp) has a rail down for a 49 total after a penalty free run cross country. Robert Costello and Chevalier for the USA are another pair to make an impressive international debut. Robert was very harshly marked in the dressage for a 42.4, clear cross country, but two rails blow them out to 52.4.
We are now down to the final five, just 12.4 penalties between fifth and first. Rudolphe Scherer’s Bambi de Briere (France) is a tough cooky, he gave himself a real whack cross country but comes home clear, trots fine and has just one pole to finish on 46.4.
The final four, just I 0.8 between Andrew and David, and Andrew is going to keep the pressure right on. Swizzle In looks superb, the stands erupt into a shower of photo flashes at every jump, but Andrew is focussed on one thing, leaving them all up, and that is just what he does. Clear, no time. Who will crack?
Not Toddy. This is his last international ride, we want to see him go out like the great master he is, but … Eyespy rattles the last of the treble but it holds, clear, but wait, 3 time – Andrew and Swizzle have moved in front of them.
Heidi Antikatzides has been the real find of these Games, the little Greek princess has made every step a winner, can she go one last clear round? Sadly no, two rails and three time, but she is still one of the bright stars of these Games.
David O’Connor. Resident Horse Magazine expert, H. K. Ryan is tipping six rails, but it seems the American has not availed himself of Heath’s kind offer to help him with his showjumping. He has two rails and 0.8 up his sleeve. Wait, he seems to have lost his way (maybe Heath has been helping) whew, he is back on course, one down, no time, and this nice guy has made it. Gold O’Connor, Silver Hoy, Bronze Todd. What a finish.
INGRID’S STORY
For 32 year old Ingrid Klimke, there was the added pressure of riding fourth in a team that had had more than its share of problems before she even hit the track, but although a newcomer to the German team, she was not going to let the problems of the others get to her…
Her dressage was superb, loose relaxed and forward, and the cross country trip much the same. A lovely correctly trained horse ridden by a rider with a unique heritage of equestrian knowledge. Ingrid has already won a Grand Prix Dressage (that’s dressage dressage) riding her late father’s wonderful Russian stallion Biotop. Perhaps, like her father, she will go on in time to compete in both disciplines at an Olympic level. Certainly she seems to have the coolest of temperaments. She was not going to let the other’s woes get inside her brain…
“I kept that totally out, because it was the same in the dressage. I knew the others had had their problems, so I knew I had to show that my horse had quality, and I am able to do it. So I thought positive, and said ‘Now we must really go for it’.”
Did you have any sticky moments out there?
“No, not at all. It was just so fluent, in such a rhythm, he kept jumping and running. It was fantastic. I am so happy.”
Your first four star?
“My first four star track, and his first four star track because he is only nine years old. I have only been riding him for three years, so he is pretty young. I got him when he was six, he had done some basic work, we won the German two star when he was seven, we were German Champions in 99 and 2000.”
How does he showjump?
“Super. He is normally very very careful.”
And sure enough, he dropped just one rail. And if the proper system were back in place, Ingrid Klimke would have gone home with the individual silver medal she richly deserved.
PHILLIP’S STORY
There is no tougher competitor on the eventing scene than Phillip Dutton. Over the past five or so seasons, Phillip has honed his already prodigious natural talent on the competitive US Eventing circuit. Coming into the team, he was one of the old hands, having had a gold medal run on Trueblue Girdwood (aka Jughead) at Atlanta, but this time he was tackling an Olympic track on a horse that had never ever seen a four star. Now that was a challenge…
“It was tough, it’s a green horse, never done a four star before, and it was getting hot and he was feeling it. We had great spotters out. I was fortunate to be the second one out so I knew how Andrew had gone. Prue Barrett had scouts out, and she briefed me on how it was going to ride, so I had real good homework on that. I had a little hiccup at the second water, I was a little long coming in, and he left his hind legs, but apart from that, it rode quite well. It was tough though, I was working every jump to get him there. It was a big question for him.”
“He recovered quite well, he did leave that leg on the second water but it looks okay. It’s not uncommon for a horse to do that on a big course, to leave a leg on a big fence.”
“The turn to the Billabong fence, by the end of the course it was hard to get them balanced for that turn, so my advice for the other guys was to stay out wide and give themselves time to get a good distance.”
“The crowd is absolutely amazing, they are so so loud, it is very inspiring to be galloping past, with everyone yelling out ‘Aussie’, I haven’t been involved with a home crowd like this before. It is a great experience.”
He’s a four star horse now?
“He is now isn’t he? I always knew he was, but he is only an eight year old, lacking a little bit of experience. He was bred by Nina Gardner and he was meant to go to the racetrack, but he had a little hiccup as a young horse, he cut his hoof quite badly. I saw him as a three year old, and really liked him, he had just been broken in, so she gave him to me … and he made it to the Olympics.”
He has a great galloping action?
“He never raced so I am always pushing him along a bit. He is always questioning me and saying ‘God, do I have to go this fast?’ He’s not like a racehorse, where you’ve got to hold them back. He is gradually getting stronger and better the more he does, he has a great attitude, hopefully he’ll be my horse for the years to come.”
How does this compare with Atlanta?
“This is completely different being in our home country, knowing everybody – in a way there is more pressure, but also there is more desire. Not that we weren’t committed in Atlanta, but it means more in front of a home crowd. He is a completely different horse from Trueblue Girdwood, he had much more experience than this horse, so I probably had to ride a bit better here. I could take a few more risks with Jug because I knew him, and he’d been around some big courses before, whereas here I had to ride a fraction on the conservative side.”
Can we go all the way?
“There’s still a lot of riders to come, we’ll take it a day at a time, but we are trying real real hard, don’t worry. We want this one real bad … ”
ANDREW’S STORY
Andrew Hoy’s relationship with Darien Powers goes back to when he first saw the horse at the Boyle family’s home. Sally Boyle had won a Wandin Young Horse Competition in 1991, and Andrew was to ride him in the Wandin Novice, the next year.
Did he feel special even then?
“You can only see how you get on with a horse, see how the horse feels. He felt good to me … ”
But when did the penny drop – this could be an Olympic horse?
“With all of these things it just comes with time. I can’t give you an exact time when I thought the horse was going to be fantastic. When I rode him round Wandin at that Novice event I had a really good feeling but at the end of the day, it was only Novice. With all of these things I try not to get too excited too early, I just try and stay relaxed about it and go through a normal procedure of working any horse. I remember four years ago, before I went to Atlanta, the selectors said to me unless I did a sub-sixty dressage, I wouldn’t be going. Now I did a thirty. That doesn’t come just through the horse being a brilliant horse it comes through schooling. Bettina (Overesch) has helped me enormously on the flat with the horse and I’ve been working extremely hard myself. I went one year without doing any eventing with him, when I was just doing dressage competitions and that was in the process of getting the horse to do good dressage here at Sydney.”
“At the end of the day, the boys and girls who are running around, the ones that are up there, are good across country and are good showjumping, and good at dressage as well. Darien Powers was good across country and he had proven that, but if the horse had been fantastic in the dressage from day one, and I’d been able to work that, I would have won a lot more competitions. I believe there are many horses that have the ability it is how they are schooled.”
When you came in for the dressage did you make a conscious decision that you were going to work that crowd?
“No, it just happened. When I rode into the arena I could feel how much the crowd wanted to cheer. It was just a feeling I had, and Darien Powers had been very relaxed all the time, and I thought there is only one way I am going to keep them quiet for the test, that is to let them get this excitement out, once, and then they settle and wait for the end of the test. Which they did, they were fantastic.”
And the test was pretty flash?
”The test was very good, it was definitely a personal best for both of us.”
Better than the test at Badminton?
“I think it was. Sure they are two different tests, but putting it all together this was definitely a better test.”
How did you end up with those bits of tape hanging off your horse’s feet on the cross country?
“There’s been so many people pick up on that. It is not as big a deal as the media made it. I believe on television it was said I was stopped because of the tape. I have always put elastoplast around the horse’s coronet bands so that he has a little bit of protection there, if they get cut, it is a very tender area. When you’ve jumped through two water jumps, it does start to slip a little, it has been there before, no one has ever picked it up.”
But you looked down at one stage when you were riding?
“That was when a shoe came off. I looked down and called out to a spectator, please pick that up. Well I think they did and they’ve souvenired it.”
At this stage, there is still the showjumping to go – how confident do you feel?
“The competition is not over. Any horse can have a rail. I believe Darien Powers can also jump clear. I just have to go out there and try and keep the whole thing together.”
next how Stuart Tinney felt
STUART’S STORY
For Stuart the selection of Jeepster was borne more out of desperation than anything else. Stuart and his wife Karen had searched from one end of Australia to the other, looking – without success – for a top eventing prospect. When they did find Jeepster, he was just down the road in the yard of an Australian showjumping competitor:
“We went up to see Chrissy Harris, and had a test drive, and bought him. We’d been looking all over the place.”
When did he tell you he was something special?
“With the cross country, quite early, he finds that easy and loves it. I thought he would come very good on the flat, it was just going to take a long time. Showjumping is pretty much how it has been since we bought him, hopefully a little better now.”
Coming into the event you had a bit of an ordinary dressage test at Daybreak?
“That’s a one day event, I don’t ride him for long enough at a One Day Event to get him to operate in his dressage. I don’t do that every day. I just school movements, it’s very normal for him not to do well at a one day, he is a three day event horse.”
Coming into the test, he looked very collected – you were even doing passage in the warm up arena?
“That’s pretty normal, that’s what I do with him. He has to be really engaged to be balanced. He is such a big mover, he has such a big trot, that if he doesn’t get himself very engaged and balanced, he sort of worries about it. He’s been doing passage work for quite a while now, at least two years, he was doing it before the World Champs in Rome. It improves his balance and his ability to be able to hold himself so he can trust himself to move big. If you half engage him he loses it, and becomes harder to ride.”
The cross country really looked like trouble free motoring…
“Yeah, he’s lovely to ride cross country, he waits really easily and he is so very watchful – he is quite careful about what he is doing. He is a lovely ride cross country. The course was good, quite easy to make up time on the back. I was on time about half way, two thirds of the way around, and just kept cruising and made up a bit more time towards the end.”
You were the fastest run of the day?
“I was planning to do the long way at the quarry thing, down the bottom, and I’d left enough time to do that – when I got there I saw a lovely stride to the fence coming straight out, so I just took it, and ended up a bit quicker. It was such good going on the course, Australian horses are not used to getting good footing, when they get it, they love it.”
You were aware of the crowd?
“Not a lot. I didn’t see them a lot. When I watched it on the TV later, I thought ‘wow look at all the people around the water jump!’ I just haven’t time to look into the crowd, I’m too busy with what I am doing.”
Have you done anything special to prepare yourself for this afternoon? Did you sleep alright last night?
“Yeah, yeah, I sleep alright. He’s been showjumping a bit better. We’ve been doing a fair bit about that, we’ll see what happens.”
And after the showjumping …
“I always find the showjumping far more stressful than anything else at a three day event, especially when we didn’t have many rails. I just tried to do what I needed to do to get a clear round. He hasn’t had a vertical down before, so we did that today. He tries to be careful, he’s just a bit of a strange jumper.”
Best of all for the future of eventing in Australia – Stuart proved that you can beat the best without having to base yourself somewhere else:
“I live in Australia. I think it is the best country in the world. I chose to live here. Sure, you get fewer competitions here, but our base of riders here is very strong. If you can win in Australia, you can win anywhere, I think.”
MATT’S STORY
After the wonderful double gold win at Barcelona, Matt Ryan has been searching for another Olympic horse, and went back, literally to the source of his first one. Kibah Sandstone is out of Sandrift, the dam of Kibah Tic Toc, but while Tic Toc was by the Hanoverian, Domherr, Sandstone is by the Souvenir stallion, Sunny Souvenir. Matt first met up with Sandstone on one of his trips back home to Australia.
“Crikey, I first saw him, five, maybe six years ago. His breeder Bud Hyem, asked if I’d ride him at Werribee 3DE. I think it might have been the Novice, and I think I might have ridden him at Oberon ODE. He’s been a sort of tricky number through the years. He always felt very athletic but somewhat unorthodox in the things he does. Gradually and slowly over the years we have jelled into a partnership. Sometimes it is a bit untidy, but he is a mean machine.”
Different personality from Tic Toc?
“Personality wise quite similar but just a little bit hotter. Different type of horse, different way of going totally, but in the stable they are very similar.”
After missing Atlanta, were you hurting to get back into the team?
“It’s my life really. I compete in this sport because it is my dream, riding for Australia. It really hurt not being part of the team at Atlanta, but it wasn’t missing out there, that got me here. I would have done it anyway. Even if I did ride at Atlanta, I would be busting my bum to get here as well.”
How does this compare to Barcelona?
“It’s probably a little bit nicer, in front of a home crowd, it feels so much greater, with all the people yelling and screaming in the audience. Probably in Barcelona I was a little naive on how great it was to win a gold medal. It is only over the years that I have realised, hell’s bells, that is not very easy doing that. So to do it again, you just appreciate it a bit more I think”
The showjumping at Sydney?
“When I had two rails down, I thought, oh crikey that was a disaster. But seeing everyone else struggle to get round the course, maybe it wasn’t too bad.”
WAYNE’S STORY
Wayne Roycroft is an emotional sort of guy. He really believes in his team, and is passionate about his role as team coach. After the cross country, he was feeling pretty pleased, but just a touch aprehension about the showjumping that was to come…
Everything was perfect so far for you guys?
“It was terrific, amazing four clear rounds, almost all on time. Stuart twenty seconds under time, Phillip on his young horse just over, Matt rejuvenated on Kibah Sandstone, and Andrew just a second behind Stuart.”
In your dreams, did you hope that would happen?
“Of course I did, but I didn’t think that the others would be able to chase us as hard as they did. I thought we would end up breaking their hearts, we almost did. I think the Brits were a smidgen lucky but so were we a couple of times. Pippa Funnell did a fabulous job to hang on when she did … I always said it was going to be a really close one and it will be. It has been a very very good event. I was delighted with what we did, and I guess the standard now is so high that the Brits managed to keep pace with us totally – they lost one horse of course.”
Wayne Roycroft walking the cross country course with Olivia Bunn and Brook Staples, who competed as individuals
No surprises on the course?
“I guess the second water rode a little bit tougher than we thought it would, maybe we were too long figuring it out – Matt got it right, he did it very well.”
“As far as we are concerned it has been a terrific event, if we win it will be even more terrific. There have been very few glitches, but I think they’ve done a really good job. I was disappointed they didn’t have loud speakers all around the course because a lot of the crowd didn’t know what was happening. It was amazing to have fifty thousand plus here – and it would have been better to have better communication, running order sheets and the like. I was here before it was even built and what’s been achieved is pretty amazing. Everyone I’ve talked to believes that the site is more than world class.”
We’ve seen a couple of the early showjumping rounds – how confident are you. The Spanish rider got home without a rail?
“He was more of an innocent there, innocent, and a careful horse. I’m nervous because I know it is so easy even with good horses and good riders under that sort of pressure to have a few rails down. I certainly won’t be at ease until the last horse goes and hopefully we can put it away. If we don’t put it away, all I can say is that the guys have done a fantastic job, and maybe the showjumping is something we can continue to work on. I think the new generation horses probably are a bit better at the showjumping – but I’m not conceding defeat, I’m just trying to be realistic about the outcome. The time on the course is quite tight, and that puts pressure on the riders not to take too much time. We’ve done as much homework as we can on these horses, there’s not much more we could have done. It’s now in the lap of the horses and the riders.”
And afterwards…
“It was unbelievable – I guess the only thing better would be to jump up on that gold podium. I actually cried a little bit. Not much … It was an amazing feeling. I don’t think that it happens to too many people to be part of the presentation to your own team. They say I wear too many hats some times, but I was glad I had both of them on today.”
