New Zealand team in medal hunt at world eventing championships in Italy – Stuff

Libby Law Photography

Tim Price, seen her competing at Burghley, sits in seventh place at the FEI World Eventing Championships in Italy.

New Zealands eventing team remain in the medal hunt at the FEI World Eventing Championships in Italy.

At the end of the cross country stage, the Kiwis sit in fourth place and have riders in seventh, 12th, 15th and 20th on the leaderboard in Rome.

Just 11 of the 88 combinations who tackled the Guiseppe della Chiesa-designed course came home clear and inside time and one of those was New Zealander Tim Price aboard Falco.

READ MORE:* Jonelle Price on 5-star podium in Germany* Tim Price finishes third in the Stars of Pau equestrian event * Tim Price on podium at Burghley

Monica Spencer and Artist, Jonelle Price with McClaren, and Amanda Pottinger on Just Kidding all came through but picked up time penalties along the way.

World No 3 Tim Price was very happy with his smooth ride on Falco, which left him in seventh spot in the individual standings following their earlier 26.2 penalty point dressage score.

It was a good day for us really.

Prices wife Jonelle sits in 15th spot but remained upbeat about her chances after coming through the challenging course.

Obviously it would have been nice to have been a couple of seconds faster but the clear round was paramount at that stage of things, she said.

I lost a little bit of time in the last couple of minutes he [McClaren] was a little bit flat coming home but he really fought for some fences, and fought for some flags today.

It was really a day to get stuck in and wasnt the most beautiful of tracks to ride, with the changing ground and some of the lines, but he dug deep and came home well for me.

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Jung and fischerChipmjunk FRK lead the individual field on 18.8, with Britains Yasmin Ingham in second (23.2) on Banzai du Loir and American Tamra Smith in third on 24 aboard Mai Baum.

Germany also lead the way in the team standing on 76.1 penalty points, with the United States second on 77.4, Great Britain in third on 80.9 and New Zealand fourth on 88.3.

There were three retirements and 13 eliminations during the cross country. The competition shifts to showjumping on Sunday evening (NZT).

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New Zealand team in medal hunt at world eventing championships in Italy - Stuff