Gaucho Derby 2020: Day Two

The day began with heavy rain and strong winds and it is fair to say that the real race has begun.  The Adventurists have said very clearly that navigation is the real challenge at hand, but riders have also struggled with their horses and the weather, both of which saw riders hitting help buttons all over the place mid-afternoon.  These riders have been lured to Argentina with some very scenic photographs...  Here's hoping they can at least see the mountains through the weather.  We have had visitors to NZ who were treated to two weeks of epic fog and my panicky "THERE'S SOME LOVELY MOUNTAINS BEHIND THAT" so...

At the back of the race, Shirley was cheered on by the crew as she struggled on after many had given up.  She battled wind and rain to make it to vet station two.  Her prize is that she gets to share a tent with Dartmoor's most eligible bachelor, Mr Rob Skinner.  Someone told me that he has had a baby since I last saw him, though, so he might only be interested in a decent night's sleep.  Also, potentially no longer a bachelor.  Or a man, if reports are 100% accurate.

Julie Youngblood makes this a cheery threesome at vet station two - she at least is definitely still smiling, despite having been bucked off on day one when her bridle broke and having struggled with her horses again on day two. She lost a horse today. Perhaps she turned her pack horse free to follow?  Uncertain.  What IS certain is that SOMEONE ended up on a patch of dry land surrounded by bog.  I was surprised to read this, as the Mongol Derby horses were such professionals.  I suppose either Julie was stuck with a real cretin or these horses are much less automatic.  Then again, the next I read was that the same horse had turned up at vet station two without Julie so fairness forces me to add option three: these horses are very clever indeed.  Never mind, Julie!  Rob can regale you with tales of twenty years in the marines (? my military knowledge is vague) or stag hunting, if that is more your thing.

Chris Maude, Rob's chum and seven-time grand national jockey (sorry, racing knowledge also vague so that may not be strictly accurate) has ditched Rob almost immediately for the no doubt more charming company of Annie and Linda.  These three are camped just outside vet station two.  Maude is famous amongst Mongol Derby veterans both for his excellent "I fucking hate this" face and for signing up to do things he fucking hates after a few too many.  Anyway, at four pm today he announced that it was "pissing down" and retired for the evening. Night, night Maudie.

Stevie, Dylan, Warren, Zsofia, Lisa, Hanna, Louise & Laura are half way to vet station three.  A little bird told me yesterday that they suspect Zsofia won't finish, but I don't really have an opinion on that as I've never met her.  She's in a great group, anyway - Stevie has the sunniest disposition of any person I have ever met and she's an excellent rider to boot.  Anyone riding with her is lucky and I am extremely superstitious.  Following with interest.

Roberta has surrendered her lead and is camped with Charles, Erik (event manager), Ivo (documentary film maker) and Anya (photographer).

As early as 1522 (according to the official Twitter feed) Chris Peterson also gave up riding and set up camp to sit out the bad weather. A friend of his said on Twitter that she had been watching him train through the Canadian winter and couldn't imagine weather that would slow him down... Just how wet is this rain?!! Claire and Courtney are camped with him - the official twitter feed has them just short of vet station two, but as the official twitter feed also puts them in third and fourth place respectively, I'm presuming this is a typo and they're nearly at vet station three. 

Corie and Marie are leading the race, but they are still on their way to vet station three.

In a strange twist, Nichole is at the front of the field of riders geographically speaking, but as she took a carry forward to vet station three in exchange for a whopping 10 hour technical penalty she is in last place technically speaking.  After she started day one with being kicked on the start line, day two continued in similar fashion burdened as she was with a pack horse which seemed to hate her with a great and abiding passion. I presume it was her pack horse she lost today, but whether her riding horse chucked her off or her pack horse made a break for freedom, day two saw her heading back to vet station one to retrieve it and then accepting a carry forward.  It is unclear whether she took it in good humour or not.  I'm not sure where she stopped on the course (nope, don't have time to dot watch - feel free to fill me in), but the Adventurists reckon it would have taken her ten hours to reach vet station three from wherever she stopped.  Any thoughts on whether this is correct?

Feel free to pop your comments, thoughts, tips, corrections or gossip below.  More juicy nuggets can be sent direct to me, if you like.  I won't divulge my sources, promise ;)