And today it started raining in the early hours….and it rained and rained and rained! All day it continued and where the footfall or the traffic was high the ground just disintegrated into slop and here we go with the wettest Badminton since 2014.
All spring we have been breaking records! The driest February in 30 years, the wettest March in 40, the coldest April since 1986. May hasn’t been very nice either.
If ever there was a horse to be the very last to canter up the centre line (yesterday it was defined by a mown track, today it looked like a single plough has been pulled down it) the Coup de Coeur Dudevin (Joker) is the one. As his PA Kerryn said, it’s like he’s an 8 track compared to a sports car. His incredible engine just powers through the mud whilst the fancy Dutch horses are stuck in the corners. He simply V8’s it on through and seems like he rather enjoys it. Which is damn lucky!
Of course Tim too is a pro at the mud and together they looked pretty damn special this afternoon. Plenty of 9’s and lots of 8’s and a truly dynamic test for Jokers second start at 5 star and just his third three day with Tim! The change out of counter canter at A is a tricky one for sensitive Joker as Tim has to have a stronger aid to switch from counter to true through the change and Joker tends to kick out at his leg aid so the score dropped to 3’s and 4’s for those changes but the last two on the diagonal were much smoother as Tin can use a softer aid. Joker then decided to throw in another perfect change down the final centre line but only 2 out of the 3 judges saw that!
Joker sits in 9th position overnight on 25.9 and Vitali in 11th on 27.1 The Brits hold the first 8 places with Ros Canter in the lead on 22. Some changes have been made to the track with elements removed but it is still going to be a stamina test and a proper cross country day tomorrow.
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