Powell leads NZ charge at Badminton

Seventh-placed Caroline Powell is the leading New Zealander at the Badminton Horse Trials in England after the cross-country phase run in wet conditions this morning (NZ time).

Riding Lenamore, Powell, 33rd after the dressage, pushed up the leaderboard with a good cross-country, drawing just 1.2 penalty points to be on a total of 51.4 going into tomorrow morning's (NZT) show jumping.

Powell is 6.5 points behind the leader, Australian Paul Tapner, riding Inonothing.

New Zealander Neil Spratt, who was fourth on Upleadon after yesterday's dressage, was forced to retire after being one of 10 riders to fault at the brush corner in Huntsman's Close.

Of the other New Zealanders still in the running, Andrew Nicholson was 15th on Nereo with 59 penalties, after his other mount Avebury was among those to fall foul of the pair of open corners at the HS1 Farmyard leaving the pair 34th with 76.3 penalties.

Joe Meyer on Snip was 17th (60.1 penalties), Annabel Wigley on Black Drum was 18th (61.8) Mark Todd on Grass Valley was 22nd (64.6) and Bruce Haskell on Kiwi Smog 57th with 151.2 penalties.

Wigley said she thought the course rode tougher than when she first walked it.

Nicholson, though, said the wet ground today did not bother him and 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."

Tapner was confident about his chances in the final phase, but only one fence covers the top four riders.

Britain's Mary King is only 2.3 penalties in arrears on Imperial Cavalier, having shown all her experience to survive a few erratic jumps after the pair were held on course while a fence was rebuilt.

Germany's Simone Dietermann is in third place on debut on Free Easy.

The Badminton track proved as difficult to predict as ever, taking its fair share of high-profile scalps.

William Fox-Pitt, in overnight sixth on Sea Cookie, withdrew and Robinson and Andreas Dibowski (Germany), now fifth on Euroridings Butts Leon, are the only riders from the top 10 after dressage still in the running.

- NZPA