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Kiwis rise to the test of proposed Olympic jump event

Genevieve Murphy
Monday 03 September 2001 00:00 BST
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Blyth Tait headed a clean sweep for New Zealand when he rode his Olympic and world champion, Ready Teddy, to win the Burghley Pedigree Horse Trials yesterday, defeating two other British-based Kiwis – Andrew Nicholson on Mr Smiffy and Daniel Jocelyn on Silence.

Mary King, who had eight stitches in her right leg after a fall with Star Appeal on Saturday, remained the best of the British – finishing fourth on King Solomon III. She was closely followed by two other talented British women: Pippa Funnell, the European champion, on Cornerman, and Polly Stockton on Mark Todd's former partner, Eye Spy II.

This trio, who filled fourth to sixth places, had all made two mistakes in the course of yesterday's two show-jumping rounds, which were introduced here as a trial for a proposed new formula for the Olympic Games. Some riders had been scathing about it beforehand (notably Nicholson who complained that they were being used as guinea pigs), but it worked rather better than expected, with most horses jumping better in the second round.

The first round decided the result of the unofficial team contest, which Britain won from New Zealand. The Kiwis would, however, have won hands down had Tait been included with Ready Teddy, rather than his other horse, Eze. The top 25 riders then carried their accumulated scores forward to the final round which settled the individual placings.

"It's not ideal to ask horses to jump twice after the cross-country, but it didn't effect Ready Teddy," Tait said. He would have won under either formula, having moved ahead of Nicholson when Mr Smiffy (last year's Burghley winner) erred in the first round, which would normally have concluded the competition.

The dynamic little Ready Teddy had been one of 18 to jump clear within the optimum time over Saturday's cross-country. "He was paying very little attention to me and I either had to go with him or get off," Tait said.

King, who also underwent surgery on a broken bone in her neck this year, had thought Star Appeal was going to break her leg when he caught her thigh with the stud in his shoe after his fall on Saturday.

She nevertheless retains "a burning desire to compete at top level" and an affectionate loyalty to the 16-year-old horse, who now goes into retirement. "He did his very best not to tread on me," she said.

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