JOCK Paget was delighted to see Clifton Lush come out of the shadow of Clifton Promise to claim third spot at the Badminton Horse Trials on Sunday.

The Marlborough-based rider had just one rail down on the final day to lift him up two places to put him on the podium behind German Ingrid Klimke, on Horseware Hale Bob, and winner William Fox-Pitt, on Chilli Morning, who both went clear.

“It is pretty special, everyone in the team, we love that little horse,” he said.

“He has always had to be the leader to Clifton Promise and go out first and get the tough draw but this time he got a chance to show his stuff and that was enough for third.

“Even if he did jump clear today he wouldn’t have won so I am happy how it turned out.”

Paget went into the final day with just one horse after he had withdrawn Clifton Promise prior to the show jumping round.

Despite the horse being in 10th place after the cross country round, it appeared to have taken its toll on the 16-year-old horse.

“He is just getting a little bit old now and I think he was feeling it a bit,” added Paget.

“When I did my normal work out he started off the way he always does but normally he doesn’t feel so stiff after a couple of minutes but today he was so we gave him a day in the stable.”

It was a good weekend for the husband and wife pairing of Tim and Jonelle Price as their three horses all finished in the top 35.

The Mildenhall duo saw Tim Price’s Ringwood Sky Boy finish 15th while Jonelle Price came 20th on Classic Moet and 35th on The Deputy.

“If I could just erase the first couple of fences and start at about number four, she jumped a super round after that,” said Jonelle Price after her showjumping round.

“I was a bit fragile at the start and struggled to get into a rhythm but two mistakes soon shouldered me into it.”