William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero scored a 39.5 to sit second going into cross country. Photo by Kate Samuels.
Burghley dressage has officially concluded, with Jock Paget and Clifton Promise leading the way, followed by William Fox-Pitt and Sam Griffiths close behind. The two days have ended with two riders in the 30s, 14 riders in the 40s, and 17 horses below the mark of 55. As we all well know, Burghley is unlikely to be a dressage competition, but your score in the first phase is integral to your success through the weekend.
The last group of the afternoon was by far the most exciting, with some of the most highly anticipated pairs competing at the very end of the day. William Fox-Pitt put in his usual polished test, with this year’s Rolex winner Bay My Hero, or “Moonie.” While the gelding was quite naughty in the trot ups on Wednesday, he was probably the most relaxed horse in the dressage ring all week.
Bay My Hero performed beautifully for William to become the only other horse to score below a 40, just squeaking in there with a 39.5. This places them in second going into cross country for the 11-year-old gelding’s first Burghley experience.
“I’m very happy with Bay My Hero,” Willian said. “He certainly arrived here on his toes, and he made his mark at the first trot-up — on his back legs. So I’ve been quite aware that he needed to settle. He’s very excited to be here, so he went in there and was as good as I could have hoped. He was super and did some lovely work.”
Andrew Nicholson & Avebury, who scored a 40.5 to sit very close in fourth place. Photo by Kate Samuels
Actual war horse Armada completed his test late in the day with Oliver Townend. This horse is running his twelfth CCI4* this weekend, not to mention this is his 21st CCI competition. If that doesn’t tell you what kind of tough stuff this horse is made of, I don’t know what will. They had a really nice test until the changes, when Armada thought perhaps he wasn’t interested in playing, and finished with a 48.3 to tie for 12th.
After his test, Oliver said, “He’s got all the movements and all the talent, but the brain is the tricky bit. In two movements the brain let us down again, but you know, we’re used to that, and when he has a clear round in the dressage, we enjoy it, and if not, we just try our best.”
Two-time winners Andrew Nicholson and Avebury finished off the day as the last to go, and while they didn’t crack the top three, they are sitting just 1.7 penalties out of first place. In their past two Burghley wins performances, they have never recorded more than .8 time penalties on cross country, and each time had just one rail.
“He felt very very good, he’s a pleasure to ride,” Andrew said. “He’s been in there quite a few times now, and I don’t do the arena walk-about or anything like that with him, and he still just goes in there and trundles around, happy as can be.” If Andrew and Avebury are able to repeat their performances of the past two years, he will set a record as the first person to ever win Burghley three times in a row on the same horse.
Oliver Townend & Armada. Photo by Kate Samuels.
The American contingent finished with Allison Springer in sixth place, Marilyn Little in 10th place, Hannah SueBurnett in 14th place and Meghan O’Donoghue in 30th place. Each one of these pairs are extremely experienced and competitive, but aside from Allison, all are attempting their first Burghley cross-country course tomorrow. The U.S. accomplished a very good dressage result, with 75 percent of our riders coming in under the mark of 50, and one rider sitting just outside the top group.
The course here is unlike any other four-star in existence, so much so that saying the word Burghley is in fact its own descriptor. When asked about their thoughts on the challenge tomorrow, you’ll hear riders say, “Well, it’s big, and it’s Burghley,” which tells you that the difficulty is self evident. The greatest riders in the world are of the opinion that there is no way to complete Burghley without extreme respect for the course, and that much we know to be true.
Seventh-placed Aoife Clark was very pleased with Vaguely North, scoring a 44.7. Photo by Kate Samuels.
Just 1.7 penalties separate the top four combinations, with 8.7 penalties between the top 10 and 11.7 from first to 20th place. I can guarantee you that the leaderboard will not look the same after tomorrow’s action, as we all know that fractions of a point can make the difference between winning and losing.
Cross country begins tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. BST (5:30 a.m. EST). While cross country will not live stream, you can follow along on Twitter @eventingnation and watch the replays of each round for free on Burghley TV. Our American riders compete at the following times:
Allison Springer & Arthur: 12:42 p.m. BST (7:42 a.m. EST)
Meghan O’Donoghue & Pirate: 1:26 p.m. BST (8:26 a.m. EST)
Marilyn Little & RF Demeter: 1:34 p.m. BST (8:34 a.m. EST)
Hannah Sue Burnett & Harbour Pilot: 2:42 p.m. BST (9:42 a.m. EST)
Burghley Links: [Website] [Entry List] [Live Scores] [Burghley TV] [Course Preview]
