After record rainfall in April the staging of the 2000 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials looked in serious doubt; yet six days before the event the rains stopped and the sun shone. Drying winds ensured that the going in all three phases was as near to perfect as ever before.

In Olympic year, some riders hoping for team selection had left their best horses at home, but these were few, and the quality of competition was as strong as ever. More horses were presented at the first trot-up than ever before - ninety-four in total, from fifteen different nations.

Tristrams Owers and Hatherdens Riverdance at the trot up

At the end of the first day of dressage the form books were turned on their head by twenty?one-year-old Tristram Owers who, along with Rita Gallagher's ten year old Hatherden's Riverdance, was competing in his first four star event. "I am finding the whole thing a bit nerve-racking, but he has always been an impressive mover and he loves his cross country - at least we have our two best phases first!", said Tristram, who is a protégé of 'veteran' eventer Nigel Tabor.

Tristram was quite over-awed by his instant fame and found the questions fired at him by the news-hounds in the ensuing press conference more daunting than the questions he was to face two days later on the cross country!

His impeccable test left him 3.8 penalties ahead of the 1998 Badminton winner, Christopher Bartle, this time riding Oscar. Two grey horses were in equal third place - Jeremy Lawton's Shear H20, ridden by Leslie Law and Lord and Lady Vestey's Rangitoto, ridden by Ian Stark. Sadly Rangitoto, a former ride of New Zealander Blyth Tait, was withdrawn before the speed and endurance phases due to an infection in his leg.

Australian Andrew Hoy and his magnificent grey, Darien Powers - overall dressage leaders

On the second day of dressage Tristram was to fall to sixth place as Andrew Hoy and Bob Scarborough's awesome grey, Darien Powers, produced a spellbinding performance to take pole position, 3.4 penalties ahead of their nearest rivals, France's Rudolphe Scherer and Bambi de Brière. Leslie Law celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday by retaking third place on his second ride, Diana Fitzroy's Matt Butler. Greek rider Heidi Antikatzides with her own Michaelmas was fourth ahead of Mary King and Star Appeal.

Andrew's performance went unseen by his fiancé, former European Champion Bettina Overesch, who had to attend her 'unhorsey' brother's wedding in Germany, but she returned to Badminton in time for the celebrations. Andrew beamed and commented, "I'll be on a high for at least twenty four hours, but tomorrow is another day and horses are great levellers." How portentous his words were to prove to be!

Chris Bartle was to suffer the indignity of incurring a zero mark from one of the three judges in the dressage arena as his former Badminton winner, Word Perfect II, boiled over and reared at the first halt. Only Chris's vast experience enabled him to make the best of a bad job with the rest of the test and the pair ended in the mid-league. Nigel Taylor and Gambler's Lad brought up the rear after a test that Nigel stoically described as 'character-building.'

Continues.......

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