Laura Renwick (pictured), the sole British contender across both the dressage and jumping of the 2016 World Cup finals, has withdrawn her top horse Bintang II from the competition. The opening leg of the Longines World Cup final jumping took place tonight in Gothenburg, Sweden (Friday, 25 March) and Laura did not contest the class.
“Some really bad news. This morning Bing couldn’t put his head down to eat or move his neck,” she wrote on social media. “His bed was really messed up and we believe he had been cast [meaning that the horse had rolled all the way over in his stable and got his legs stuck against the wall. Horses can injure themselves in their efforts to stand up again].
“The vet and physio were called straight away and confirmed this and the physio has been working on him all day. Although he has improved a lot it was impossible for him to jump — a really hard decision as we believe he had a great chance in this final and he jumped a super clear in the warm up on Wednesday.
“But his welfare is paramount. Gutted doesn’t begin to sum up our feelings,” she added.
The opening class was dominated by French riders who filled the top two spots.
Second-last to go, Penelope Leprovost was untouchable on the speedy Vagabond De La Pomme (Vigo D’Arsouilles x For Pleasure), shaving the best part of three seconds off the previous best time of 66.04 seconds set by Simon Delestre.
Penelope Leprevost on Vagabond De La Pomme. Image credit Claes Jakobsson/Gothenburg Horse Show
“My horse is fast and he’s simple to ride,” said Penelope. “He has a super character with a lot of scope. In the beginning the problem was control, but now he’s done enough dressage and we have the control.”
Simon — the current World number one — put in a blistering round for second on the 12-year-old L’Arc De Triomphe stallion Qlassic Bois Margot.
Germany’s Daniel Deusser had to settle for third with Cornet D’Amour, a sporty 13-year-old grey gelding by Cornet Obolensky.
This is the first of three days of strenuous competition before the World Cup showjumping wraps up with the individual medals on Monday evening.
Click here for the full results from the first leg of the final.
