Top eventing rider William Fox-Pitt announced on Sunday after the Badminton Horse Trials that this was his last competition. The Brit had previously hinted that he would probably be in Badminton for the last time, but it was not yet known that he would no longer make a shot at ‘Paris’. His last match was not a dream final, but the multiple Olympian could live with that: “It wasn’t my day today, but that has happened before and tomorrow everything will look different again. This was it. I am 55 and I I had a great time. I’m still intact and I was lucky with that.”
Fox-Pitt will still occasionally ride a horse from the starting box, because he still plans to continue training young eventing horses. But he forgets about the big competitions. His mare Grafenacht came almost clear through the difficult cross on Saturday in Badminton, but dropped six beams in the second part of the jumping course. As a result, Fox-Pitt fell from second to thirteenth place. The twelve-year-old mare will remain in the sport. “This is not her last Badminton. She will get another, younger rider and hopefully she will jump better next year,” said Fox-Pitt. “It was a shame that we had to jump today, she did an excellent job yesterday.”
Career
The Brit is sober about his farewell: “I am lucky to have so many supporters and it was a nice farewell. No tears or anything, I am very businesslike about that. This is the right decision.” Fox-Pitt rode Badminton for the 26th time this year. He won the competition in 2004 and 2015. He is also the record holder for winning in a five-star, having won no fewer than 14 times, six of which in Burghley. In addition, he was part of a European Championship gold team six times, and won team gold at the 2010 World Championships. Fox-Pitt has been to the Olympic Games five times.
Bron: Horses.nl / Horse & Hound / Wikipedia
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2024-05-12 20:32:56
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