Blyth Tait, the world and Olympic three-day event champion, has called on the organisers of next weekend's Scarva horse trials in Co Down to revert to the traditional method of scoring international events, following the death last Sunday of British team rider Polly Phillipps at an international fixture in Scotland.
Phillipps (30), was killed when her horse Coral Cove fell on top of her after somersaulting over the 10th fence at the Scottish championships at Thirlestane Castle. This was the third fatal accident on the British horse trials circuit in the past 14 weeks, following the deaths of Peta Beckett in midMay and Australian Olympic hopeful Robert Slade six weeks later.
Many of the top riders feel that the new international scoring method, which puts a greater premium on cross-country speed, is part of the problem. Tait, who notched up back-to-back wins at Thirlestane and Scarva last year and who will be travelling to Co Down with two horses this weekend, has now requested a change of scoring method.
Under the old system, abandoned at the end of last year, time penalties were awarded at a rate of one for every four seconds over the optimum time. The new scoring system adds one penalty for every second over the time, meaning riders have to go much faster to avoid time faults, with the risk factor increasing with the speed.
A meeting has been set for Friday between the event's technical delegate Tony McPherson and the two judges for the international class, Lord Carew and Jean Mitchell to discuss the proposal, but event officials feel it is unlikely that a change to the old method of scoring will be allowed by the sport's governing body, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) prior to an open forum at the Dutch three-day event at Boekelo in October.
An official inquiry into Phillipps' death has been launched by the local health and safety executive in the Borders and, as with any accidental death, the local police are also looking into the incident.
A spokesperson for the British Horse Trials Association said yesterday that the BHTA is holding its own internal inquiry. "The cross-country standing committee will be looking into the accident, as they have with the other two," the spokesperson said. "The lay person sees three deaths in a little over three months and they think there's something wrong with the sport.
"Nobody's out to trick the riders. Obviously nobody wants to see horses or riders killed, but when you have a horse galloping across country at solid fences there's always going to be a risk. No matter what you do to the courses you can't take away that risk.
"Polly was the last person who'd want anyone to down tools because this has happened. She'd want the British team to qualify for the Olympics and then go out and win the gold medal in Sydney."
Phillipps and her horse had been the subject of an international judicial inquiry after Coral Cove tested positive to illegally high levels of pain-killing salicylates at the World Equestrian Games last October. Phillipps was disqualified from individual seventh place and, as a result, the British team lost its bronze medal and Olympic qualifying slot.
Phillipps subsequently appealed her month-long suspension and £2,250 fine to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. Following Phillipps' death, her solicitor Matthew McLoy yesterday faxed the CAS asking for the case file to be temporarily set aside.
