David Doel and Ferro Point. Photo by Sophie Robins/Girl In The Field.
Seven CCI5* starts into her career, it’s a MARS Badminton debut this weekend for the 16-year-old Ferro Point (Match Point – Ferra Jones VII) — and the meaning of the weekend goes beyond “just” cantering down another monumental centerline.
In fact, it’s been just about two and a half years since the mare has started a 5*; she finished two phases at Defender Burghley back in 2023, but an injury sidelined her for the whole of 2024, and 2025 was more about sussing out her future and her soundness for the long term. David Doel, her pilot for over a decade now, said today that 2025 was also fairly light — she did a small amount at the start of the season but then enjoyed a slower build-up to eventually returning to the level.
“This was her first time back in a big environment,” David shared today at Badminton after scoring a a 41.9 — certainly not the best the mare has shown in the past, but David remains ever the pragmatist. “It was really tough with the trot work. She’s like a little sewing machine, really — she’s not really built to move and do dressage. You know, they’re horses. They’ve got their own brains. We don’t always know what they’re thinking. So yes, it’s a bit of a bugger. But you know, she’s still in the in the competition, and she loves her jumping, so she’ll be looking forward to going out there and going galloping around on Saturday instead.”
Beyond just the numbers, though, this weekend’s start is a special one for the village supporting Ferro Point. Her owner, Christine Lees (along with Hannah Lees and Molly Nunn) lives just a few minutes down the road from the storied Badminton grounds and has always dreamed of having a horse compete there. Now, that dream finally comes to fruition.
And isn’t that, in a nutshell, the spirit of eventing? Owners in this sport are not frequently winning large sums of money; in contrast to the show jumpers, for example, the chance to win six figures of cash comes around only (this year) six times a year. There isn’t just another 5* next week if this one doesn’t go to plan.
David Doel and Ferro Point. Photo by Sophie Robins/Girl In The Field.
So the owners are in it, not for financial fulfillment (or if they are, I’d love to speak with them because they probably know more about how to squeeze money from a stone than I do), but for a simple love of horse, sport, and the athletes. Most of the sport’s owners themselves have some sort of personal connection to the sport or to the rider(s) they support, and this is no different for the team behind Ferro Point.
“[Ferro Point is] 16 years old, and [it’s] just trying to keep that balance of running them,” David shared. “Her owner loves the five-stars, so she didn’t really want to go back to Pau because Ferro Point’s jumped around Pau two or three times, and so we really did sort of target getting here for Badminton. So when the ground got a bit firm, we just have said, ‘You know what? We’ll just put her away, and then just bring her out a little bit earlier, give her a bit of a longer, slower build up to the show this week.’ And she’s not done as much galloping, probably, as she would have done in the past, but she’s a real blood little mare, and I think we’re here to have a nice time.”
And it’s only day one. Ferro Point truly shines in the jumping phases — she’s only had a sparse handful cross country jumping penalties over her entire FEI career to date, and her 5* experience to this point (plus her 75%+ Thoroughbred blood makeup) should give her and David the chance to move well up on the leaderboard.
Regardless, though, it’ll be a weekend to remember for Ferro Point’s village. “Christine Lees, her owner, has got all her family here,” David said. “They’ve flown in all from around the world, so they’re all staying with her. So it’s sort of a little bit more of ‘let’s just really enjoy the week’ and if she comes back with 20 time faults, it’s really not going to be the end of the world. We’re just grateful that she’s still going, really.”
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