Austrailan Paul Tapner, who had been in 11th place overnight, is in the lead heading into the final part of Badminton 2010. His round 14-year-old Inonothing was timed almost to perfection; he ended up 0.4 seconds over the time, but a fault free round saw his score increase to only 44.9.

Before the cross country began, two fences were altered due to overnight heavy rain. The direct route at the Quarry was removed - the long route was 37m longer, so four seconds was added to the optimum time, which was 11min 36sec. The second element of the Rolex crossing was also removed.

The cross country caused problems all over the course, with Ruth Edge falling at the Hexagon Hedge with Two Thyme and Tina Cook and Miners Frolic taking a tumble in the lake. Dressage leader Kai Ruder had a refusal at the Outlander Bank after an awkward jump up onto it. William Fox-Pitt had an unlucky moment with Macchiato to finish on 79.4, in 38th place and withdrew Seacookie, who was sixth after the dressage, before the cross country. Five of the top six after dressage failed to complete today.

Paul Tapner capitalised on the experience of going round on the course on his first horse, Stormhill Michael, who he is lying in 12th position with. His second round was near perfect: "I was totally aware of what was going on," he said. "I knew the course was causing a lot of trouble. My first horse didn’t find it walk in the park but I had a good result and I was pretty pumped."

"I stayed in the rider's tent afterwards and watched the carnage, then I had a roast dinner followed byt a sleep on the lorry with my kids. Then the alarm went off, and I got up and got on my second horse. "

"I was pretty sure going through the lake that I was going to make the time; I was pretty annoyed that I didn't."

"Both my horses are capable of going clear tomorrow, and I'm certainly planning on it," he said.

Mary King was held on course after a fall ahead of her. "It wasn't all that bad to have a breather," she said. "I was puffing a lot already. It is easy to get distracted though, as the crowd is on your side and asking you questions, and I can help chatting."

"Then when I set off I wasn't really on the ball. We jumped the table then I rode the next element poorly and I had to take the long route. That made me refocus again."

"I was thrilled that he finished so strongly, unlike two years ago when I fell off at the second last when he was labouring."

Mary explained that she retired her hombred mare Kings Temptress after her competitive spirit got the better of her after an awkward jump at the sunken road. "I should have stopped as I knew it was a bogey fence, but I thought 'Oh get on with it.' But there are lots of other good events this spring."

Simone Deitermann, third going into the showjumping, was very pleased with her placing. "He was fantastic," she said of Free Easy NRW. "The first ten fences were hard and we had lots of fighting but after the water he was very very good. I knew I could take all the direct routes."

"He is a very good jumper and he can do a clear round. That’s my plan tomorrow."

Watch selected cross country rides for free on H&C later today.