N.Z. rider in tears after equestrian triumph

Press, 22 April 1980, Page 34

N.Z. rider in tears after equestrian triumph

"NZPA London A New Zealand rider, Mark Todd, slipped away with one of the premier trophies of British equestrianism when he won the Badminton three-day event in London on Sunday. Todd, aged 22, riding a former stock horse, Southern Comfort, in only his third attempt at the demanding sport of threeday eventing, was boosted to the top of the points table after errors hv the two riders ahead of him In the final test of the com-

petition —the shdw-jump-ing. ; . ' Todd went into the show-jumping in third place with 64.6 points, behind the illustrious Lucinda Prior-Palmer — a four-times winner of the Badminton trial — and Killaire with 61.4 points, and the overnight leader Helen Butler and Merganser II with 57 points. On the horse he bought only three months ago, Todd moved up a notch in the table when his own clear round in . the showjumping was followed by Miss ’ Prior-Palmer who lost five points with a

mistake on the water jump. His win was still an upset — the last rider to attempt the show-jumping was Mrs Butler, and her hopes of taking the title disappeared when she brought down two fences ’ in a row. Obviously overcome at the realisation that he had won, Todd was shown openly weeping on the live'television coverage of the event, before he received the huge Whitbread Trophy for the event from the Queen. To win Badminton, -regarded as the most pres-

tigious three-day event in the world, Todd and Southern Comfort outrode some of the -world’s top horse and, rider cdmbina- ’ tions, including the Queen’s son-in-law, Captain Mark Phillips, arid . her own horse, Coluriibus. After the dressage; the first of the three sections, the N.Z. pair were not listed among the top 14 competitors. But they went round the extremely tough cross-country course on the Duke of Beaufort’s estate on Saturday in fine style, while. all around them riders and ' horses that are household names

to British jumping followers were going down. The win is thought to be’ the l first time — certainly in modern times — that the event has been won by. a New Zealander. Todd, from Cambridge, is also the first non-Brit-ish rider for 15 years to win the coveted title. He will be based in Britain for the rest of the season, and plans to sell his winning New Zealand mount and a second horse Jocasta before he returns home. Todd said he Is ready to go to the Olympics if bis country’s Federation final-

ly agrees to accept the invitation -next month but he said: “It doesn’t worry me one way or the other. It’s going to be a nonevent.” Todd was fortunate to be competing in the final section on Sunday after a gas burner explosion in his caravan on Saturday evening. “It blew up in my face as I was trying to light it,” he said. “I only received burns to my hair and eyebrows but I suppose I was lucky' to be here today.”