From the horse’s mouth – what did the riders think?

We caught up with the movers and shakers after their cross-country rounds:

Paul Tapner, the current leader with Inonothing: “I knew he was fit enough and experienced enough to come here and jump a clear round inside the time, but as I landed from the second-last fence and I kicked on, he said: ‘Actually Dad, I’m a little bit tired,’, so I just let him cruise on up the hill to the finish.”

Mary King, lying second on Imperial Cavalier: “He felt so much stronger than he did when he last came here in 2008. I should have won then, but we fell at the second last."
On Kings Mistress, who retired at the HS1 Corners [fence 15ab]: “We had a bad jump at the Countryside Complex [fence 14abcd] and knowing that the corners were so influential I should have taken the long route, but my competitive spirit got the better of me. That was the first cross-country fault she’s ever had.”

Simone Deitermann, third on Free Easy NRW: “The first 10 fences were not so good as he gets quite strong, but after that she settled down and jumped really well. I was very pleased.”

Andrew Nicholson, lying 15th on Nereo: “He’s a young horse doing his first four-star. I deliberately didn’t set out too fast as I wanted some petrol left in the tank at the end. I thought the course rode really well and the wet ground didn’t bother me.”

Carolyne Ryan-Bell, lying ninth on Rathmoyle King: “I didn’t like all the 90-degree turns into fences and I never want to jump an open corner with a short back rail again [like the HS1 Farmyard at 15], but he was great. After we jumped though the Lake I felt him turn into a real four-star horse.”

Annabel Wigley, who is lying 18th with Black Drum: “The course rode a lot tougher than I originally thought it would when I first walked it, but my horse was fantastic and he was so straight everywhere. He’s come back better after the winter.”

Tony Warr, currently 45th, whose horse Coolgrange Merger won many admirers with his accurate jumping: “I watched a couple of riders before I went, but wished I hadn’t because none of them completed. ‘Precious’ always locks on to his fences, but a couple of times he wasn’t sure where he was going, like at the Countryside Complex [14abcd], where he jumped the third element and couldn’t understand why I was pulling him left. Then he spotted the final part and locked on. ”

Sam Watson, lying eighth on Horseware Bushman: “The ground was exactly how I wanted it; I prayed for rain and nature helped me out. I think the leader board would have been very different without the overnight rain.”

Alex Hua-Tian, who fell on his first horse, Jeans, but later jumped clear with Magenta: “After the disappointment of this morning, Maggie [Magenta] absolutely tried her heart out and I couldn’t be more pleased.”