Badminton - Dream Start for Youngest Rider Laura Collett

Laura Collett, the youngest rider in the field, heads the leaderboard at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials after the first day of dressage.

Collett, 21, is renowned for having a cool head and a tidy style – she was a successful rider of show ponies as a child - and she presented a neat and pleasing picture on the 12-year-old Dutch-bred Rayef, the horse on which she won Junior and Young Rider European titles in 2007 and 2009.

Laura, 21, scored 36.5 with her junior and young rider medal-winning partner Rayef.

“I’ve dreamed of being here in this position, but I never thought I’d be sat up here now,” said Laura at this evening’s press conference.

Badminton first-timer Laura credited her trainer, Yogi Breisner, for her polished performance.

“Yogi told me to imagine having four walls of an indoor school around the arena and pretend that I was riding at home,” she said.

Collett bought the 12-year-old gelding, of unknown breeding, with the proceeds from selling her Pony team gold medallist, Noble Springbok, and he is now owned by Jason Houghton. Rayef spent 2010 on the sidelines due to a minor tendon injury, and Collett made her CCI4* debut at Burghley on Ginger May Killinghurst, finishing 30th.

This will be Rayef’s first four-star, but Laura does have previous four-star experience – she completed Burghley with Ginger May Killinghurst last year.

German riders had a good day and are lying second, fourth and fifth. Marina Köhncke (nee Loheit) led the Dressage at Badminton way back in 1994 on Sundancer, and was ecstatic at being back in the limelight, with a good score of 39.8 on the attractive mare Calma Schelly, a 12-year-old by Chambertin.

“I’m still shaking,” exclaimed Köhncke. “It’s unbelievable to be back riding here again. I never thought I could do another 4-star after having two children. I took Calma Schelly to Burghley and she seemed a little shocked by it, but she’s trained so well over the winter and is such a wonderful horse that I decided to come to Badminton.”

Susanna Bordone (ITA) is in third place on the Australian-bred Carrera despite the judges, Anne-Mette Binder (DEN), Sue Stewart (GBR) and Christian Landolt (SUI) having to award her two penalties for an error of course after she added an extra loop to the serpentine movement.

Bordone commented: “For Carrera, the Dressage is the easiest part, so we’ll have to see what happens. She is only half-bred so isn’t the fastest across country and I have to take tight lines on her which can lead to mistakes. My husband is a racehorse trainer, so we have done some work on her speed and fitness, but she is 15 now and we’ll have to see.”

The 38 riders who have completed their Dressage tests all know that results could change, with riders of the calibre of Britons Mary King, Pippa Funnell and William Fox-Pitt, and New Zealanders Mark Todd, Caroline Powell and Andrew Nicholson on their second horses, plus such noted Dressage experts as Ruth Edge (GBR) and Lucinda Fredericks (AUS), still to come.

Riders have been assessing Hugh Thomas’s Cross-Country course, where it will be interesting to see how some of last year’s most testing accuracy fences, such as the HSBC FEI Classics™ Corral (fences 7-8), the Colt Pond (14ab) and the open corners at the HS1 Farmyard (15), work when jumped in a clockwise direction.

Dressage marks may prove influential. Andrew Nicholson, who says he is unworried at being first to go across country, on Avebury, predicts that the fast going will result in a large number of rounds inside the optimum time.

Work is ongoing on the footing, as Badminton continues to be bathed in unseasonably hot sunshine, with watering and vertical spiking to loosen the earth.

First into the arena for the second day of dressage tomorrow is Vicky Brake and Looks Like Fun, who will start at 9am.

For full results from day 1 of the dressage click here.

Results
1 Laura Collett/Rayef (GBR) 36.5
2 Marina Köhncke/Calma Schelly (GER) 39.8
3 Susanna Bordone/Carrera (ITA) 43.0
4 Ingrid Klimke/Butts Abraxxas (GER) 43.3
5 Kai Rüder/Le Prince des Bois (GER) 44.8
6 Laurence Hunt/Pheobus (GBR) 45.5
7 Niklas Lindback/Mister Pooh (SWE) 46.7
8 Andrew Nicholson/Avebury (NZL) 47.2
9 William Fox-Pitt/Navigator (GBR) 47.5
10 Elizabeth Power/Kilpatrick River (IRL) 47.7

 

HSBC FEI Classics™ 2011 Calendar
1. Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR) - 22-25 April
2. Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA) - 28 April-1 May
3. Luhmühlen CCI 4* presented by E.ON (GER) - 16-19 June
4. The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) - 1-4 September
5. Les Etoiles de Pau CCI 4* (FRA) - 12-16 October

HSBC FEI Classics™ 2012
The HSBC FEI Classics™ 2012 season will begin at Les Etoiles de Pau CCI 4* (FRA) on 12-16 October 2011. This is also the location for the final leg of the 2011 season. Competitors therefore have the unique opportunity to secure points for both the HSBC FEI Classics™ 2011 and 2012 seasons by competing at Les Etoiles de Pau.

1.    Les Etoiles de Pau CCI 4* (FRA) - 12-16 October 2011
2.    Australian International 3 Day Event (AUS) - 18-20 November 2011
3.    Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA) -  26-29 April 2012
4.    Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR) - 4-7 May 2012
5.    Luhmühlen CCI 4* presented by E.ON (GER) - 14-17 June 2012
6.    The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) - 30 August-2 September 2012

Source: Badminton Horse Trials and Kate Green/FEI