In an extraordinary day at the Badminton horse trials in England, only 35 combinations from an original 83 starters are left in the competition, after a gruelling cross country phase which wreaked havoc on the field.
World number two Andrew Nicholson retired Quimbo and fell from Nereo, while Sir Mark Todd fell with Campino but the four-time champion produced a gutsy ride with Leonidas to survive a near dunking at the Lake, still slipping from ninth to 17th.
That's left Tim Price as the best-placed New Zealander in second spot and trailing overnight leader Paul Tapner of Australia by just 5.2 penalties. It was a huge leap for Price and Ringwood Sky Boy, who'd been a lowly 41st starting the day.
Of the other New Zealanders who started, only Lucy Jackson remains in contention in 10th after a bold ride on Willy Do.
Organisers had to battle strong winds and rain through out the day, with an unprecedented number of falls, eliminations, withdrawals and retirements. However it's not thought any of the falls resulted in serious injury.
