H&C

25
Jul
2009

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Intense rain and intense competition

The Germans celebrate their win on the podium

"What a day! A brief blog this evening, as I’m rushing off to our annual Sponsors’ BBQ… a perfect occasion to finally relax and put all the branding worries of the day behind you! Traditionally too, there’s always one member of the team who slightly overindulges on the Champagne Pommery (one of the very real benefits of working in sponsorship!) and lets slip a few trade secrets and insider scandals! Who will it be tonight I wonder, and I can’t wait for the resulting banter tomorrow (think office xmas party and you’ve got the idea!)

The sound of hearts sinking was clearly audible around our little showground during the early hours of the morning, when the threat of heavy HEAVY rain finally materialised. And stayed. There really is nothing more heartbreaking as an organiser when all the I’s have been dotted and the T’s crossed, and the only thing out of your control, the great British Summertime, does not play ball. At 8am – the time when people are deciding what to do with their day – the sheets of rain falling across the main ring were honestly so thick and relentless that you couldn’t see from one side of the arena to the other.

However we are British of course, and everyone knows that we Brits can’t resist a bit of a challenge, strength in the face of adversity and all that. Better still a challenge involving the weather! So, the Great British Public continued to pour in in their droves, and the day was a fantastic success despite the rain.

Jumping one of Bob Ellis’ Nations Cup rounds in the famous ring here at Hickstead is an enormous challenge at the best of times, and heavy rain does not serve to make it easier! However, the horses continued to fly and the competition was intense. Very early on it was clear who the main contenders would be, but there was a double-edged fight occurring as those at the bottom of the leaderboard continued to battle it out in the fight to avoid relegation.

Unfortunately Team GB’s outlook did not improve, and with a disappointing result we remain languishing in 9th place with the threat of relegation unfortunately now very real. Let’s hope the boys can perform a small miracle in Dublin!

An intense competition, over an incredibly technical and fully built course (we famously don’t shy away from maximum fence heights here at Hickstead!) we had a jump off between Germany and France. France went in to deliver a near faultless round, at impressive speed, but had to settle for four faults after an unlucky rail came down. The tension was palpable as everything came down to the very last rider for Germany – after 100 rounds and 50 riders had been jumped, such an ending was unbelievable. However they did it again, and Sonke (the German chef d’equipe) once more proudly held the golden Prince of Wales aloft as Germany celebrated their second consecutive win.

So, to the weekend… tomorrow we’ve got the infamous Sky Sports Speed Classic (a speed class incorporating the ‘nasties’, the permanent fences, so really anything can happen) and the Old Lodge Queen Elizabeth II. The Old Lodge QEII now serves as the climax to the county show series, and Britain’s most prestigious national final, so the question on everyone’s lips is will Shane Breen be able to pull it off again and be Queen Breen two years in a row?"