Watson’s full focus remains on Badminton

It could be argued that Sam Watson’s single-mindedness at Ballindenisk last week cost him a shot at the €50,000 bonus on offer next September.

The Carlow man’s objective at the Cork event was to set himself up for this weekend’s Badminton Horse Trials on Horseware Bushman. This he achieved, only to discover he had lost out to the eventing machine that is Ollie Townend by a mere seven-hundredths of a second and a tilt at the autumn prize.

Time for Watson to dig into his reserves of stoicism.