Equestrian: Cashmore stuns Olympic showjumpers

10.20am - By KEVIN NORQUAY

ATHENS - A stunned Grant Cashmore could not wipe the smile from his face today, as he stood at the head of the Olympic Games showjumping field after a flawless round on Franklin's Flyte.

Cashmore, 33, was the seventh of 10 riders to go clear of penalties in the first qualifying round of the individual competition at Markopoulo Equestrian Centre.

"I was like woohoo, dream come true," Cashmore told NZPA. "The owner of the horse, she will just be crying at the moment, I hope."

Franklin's Flyte, a 10-year-old chestnut gelding, is owned by Englishwoman Sue Lajtha.

Cashmore knew Franklin's Flyte "a very careful little horse" had the ability to go clear at the top level, he said.

All that had been standing in the way was the rider.

"A lot of the problem is I've got to learn to focus harder, and I've got to do more miles," he said.

"It's been getting better, peaking myself for this. We've still got two more days though."

Even Cashmore professed to be surprised to be heading the field as well-wishers thumped his back and yelled "good on ya".

Born in Hamilton, Cashmore has lived in England for eight years.

Based in Guildford near London, he is a professional showjumper, and has a business training and competing on clients' horses.

He has recorded numerous successes on the British national and European circuits and was a member of the New Zealand Nations Cup Team in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in 2003 and Austria and Sweden in 2004.

Franklin's Flyte, a 10-year-old chestnut gelding Cashmore has been riding since 1999, posted just the second clear round by a New Zealander at an Olympic Games. Bruce Goodin did it at the same stage of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

After two more qualifying rounds on Tuesday, the top 45 riders on accumulated points advance to the final. Qualifying scores do not carry forward to the final.

Cashmore said he had not gone into the ring with such lofty ambitions, but his expectations grew as, one by one, the 13-fence combinations were conquered.

"When I got around the wall ... number 10 ... I just felt confident, and said relax, just concentrate on one fence."

Coming to the last his only thought was "don't knock it down".

Cashmore was the only New Zealand rider to shine. Daniel Meech was 63rd on 13 penalties, Guy Thomas was 69th on 16 penalties and Goodin, who fell from Braveheart and then remounted before finishing, was 74th on 24 penalties.

Thomas, who lives in California, told NZPA Cashmore had been an inspiration, two days out from the team event which is the prime New Zealand target.

"Grunner was great, really good. He was fantastic," he said.

"I'm just going to have fun this week. If I make the final, I couldn't be happier. My horse was really good, so who knows -- maybe (on Tuesday) we'll jump clean."

Temperatures approaching 40degC proved a problem for Meech and Diagonal, who hit three fences.

Meech thought he may have kept Diagonal too long in the practice ring, with the sun beating down.

"I could feel halfway around the course he lost his edge, he started tiring," he told NZPA.

"Those ones he had down he just didn't make the effort that he normally would. I could feel halfway around the course that he was losing his touch."

There was worse to come when Goodin tumbled off Braveheart.

"I needed him to just pop over it and he didn't quite understand me. He stopped and I fell off," Goodin said.

Citing the superstition that bad things come in threes, Goodin thought his fall bode well for New Zealand hopes in Athens.

"The last show I went to I fell off twice. That's the third one, so I'm glad I've got them all out of the way now," he said.

"To get back on and try to put a round together is not the easiest thing for me, or the horse -- the horse is obviously pretty upset with me falling off, but I thought he jumped great."

New Zealand, fielding their first full Olympic showjumping team since Seoul in 1988, are hoping to finish in the top eight in the team event on Tuesday.

"I feel good about going into the team (competition) on Tuesday," Goodin said.

"If I had had six rails down, or five rails down and four time faults then I wouldn't be very happy at all ... but he was jumping great."

- NZPA