Battle Of The Kings & A Little Last Minute Dot Com

Will He Win?

So here I am sat in my sister's house again,  a few minutes up the road from Gatwick Airport, only days after the last impromptu stay on route to somewhere that sounds so much more glamourous than it really is.

The eventing season (in Europe at least) is drawing to a close, and that means Pau CCI****. It's already all over the news that there is some serious $$$$$ at stake courtesy of the HSBC FEI Classics Series, and William Fox-Pitt needs to win Pau in order to snatch the bonus right from underneath Mary King's nose.

Mary King Signing Autographs | As Popular As William Is Tall

These two are probably the most popular event riders on the circuit, and I think there will be plenty of people torn between supporting either camp. Mary is the mother of eventing that everyone wants as their own mother,  and she is as popular as William is tall, and William is as popular as he is tall, so it's a tough call.

Mary kicked off her season with a meteoric rise, coming 3rd at Badminton, and slapping first and second on her horses at Rolex. William as we know won a historic 6th Burghley, amongst countless other victories this year. Thinking about it, it seems to have been a year for historic achievements in eventing, and definitely a year to savour!


Anyway, how are these two subjects connected? (my sister's house and the season finale at Pau). Well, having packed off the children for a long standing Disneyland Paris treat, courtesy of Granny, I'm headed straight back to Gatwick (overnight with my sister) for a meeting with our European sales team, to give them a preview of a very cool prototype app I'm about to release into the iPhone App Store, before jetting off to Pau for a little more camera practice and to write an article for a magazine.

Lucky Lizzie!

I literally only booked my flight and accommodation for Pau before I left home this evening, in between feeding the dog and stuffing as little into my bag as possible, as I wasn't sure I could get someone to look after the dog for one of the nights I would be away. Luckily one of my old racing friends in Lambourn came to the rescue, and Lizzie can enjoy the company of two other black labs across the fields and downs, instead of the company of our sales team in some airport hotel. Lucky her, and lucky me!

It's all been a bit last minute dot com, but I love it when a plan comes together! (I even managed to persuade someone to mow the lawns whilst I'm away)

For more on the whole King/Fox-Pitt rumble in the Pyrenees here's a few links, as I need to finish a my slides for tomorrow's presentation (always last minute, always rushing). 

HorseTalk New Zealand Story
HSBC Classics Explanation ( because I found the recent PR a little confusing)
The Official Pau Website


Oh, and this time I have car hire booked, and SatNav with me, I just don't speak French (apart from that line from a song - you know the one!)

Go Pau!