At the most recent CCI5*-L, eventing in Maryland, Tim Price impressively underlined his top position in the world rankings. The New Zealander was already at the front of the field following the dressage with the Frenchman Coup De Coeur Dudevin. And from there no one was able to oust him. 13 of the 22 rider-horse combinations that crossed the finish line made it without making any mistakes in the terrain. Two gave up on the route. Only 0.8 penalty points for two seconds over the allowed time in the jumping course clouded the picture a bit at the end. With 27.4 minus points, Tim Price’s fifth 5* victory was sealed. And the first of the horse who has never competed at this level before.
Maryland sees three 5* debutants ahead
“I was a little nervous and wondering if taking a new horse all the way around the world was the right thing to do,” said Price, who lives in the UK with his wife Jonelle. “There is a lot at stake, from the owner’s investments to the work we put in ourselves. But I’ve always believed in the horse and today was a perfect experience for him. We had good conditions, a great track.”
The whole time he was in Maryland, he just paid attention to the balance, so Price. His ten-year-old Selle Français, incidentally bred from a trotter stock, is owned by his breeder Jean-Louis Stauffer. He jumped wonderfully, “in the water with the crab he took the initiative and made a better decision than me and that’s what makes him a top horse. After nine minutes, he still had the presence of mind to make a good decision and move on. I am very proud of him.”
Unbelievable: Desperado’s little brother a bush grenade
The second placed horse, the Hanoverian Danito owned by Tamie Smith, who won the silver medals in Pratoni with the US team, was also a debutant at 5* level. The 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding Danito has a very special pedigree: He comes from the mare Wie Musik and she is none other than the dam of Kristian Bröring Sprehe’s former world number one Desperados. He descends from De Niro, Danito from his son Dancier. In this respect he is a three-quarter brother of the team Olympic champion in dressage at Rio 2016.
After a flawless cross-country lap, the two advanced to second place. They kept it in the CCI5*-L in Maryland despite being a second over time: final result 29.8.
Tamie Smith had originally planned Danito as a World Championship horse, but an unfortunate accident in the stable had thwarted the plans. “He didn’t really have a spring season as a result,” explains Smith. “It was great that he went out today and improved,” she sums up. “You never know with these 5-star horses. This can be a lot of work for the rider if the horse doesn’t have enough breath at the end, but he made it. I am very happy with him. It was a bit green when it came out of the course, but everything was right on the track.”
Briton Oliver Townend also praised the course. Course designer Ian Stark built 45 jumps at 6,555 meters. Townend finished the CCI5*-L Maryland with a dressage score of 29.9 on the 11-year-old Spanish gelding As Is. “With the distances, you had to make a decision and implement it. As the distance progressed, my horse gained confidence. In the end he felt like a real 5 star horse. He is a cautious show jumper and I am very happy.”
Find the Maryland results here.
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