Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice held the lead in the Advanced division at Five Points. Photo courtesy of Allie Conrad Photography.
It was a day of ups and downs on cross country at Five Points today, where Phillip Dutton is holding his lead aboard Mighty Nice in the Advanced division on a score of 35.1. He’s closely pursued by Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border, who really seems to have found his cross country groove this year.
Less than a rail separate the top four in the Advanced division, and Boyd Martin with Blackfoot Mystery and Phillip with his second ride, Mr Candyman, are both well within striking position to take advantage of any mistakes at the top in the show jumping.
Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border. Photo courtesy of Allie Conrad Photography.
The course overall seemed to ride well, with two riders retiring — Michael Pollard and Halimey and Lucia Strini and Sammy Jo — and one rider fall, Will Faudree from Hans Dampf. We’re awaiting updates on how Will is feeling after parting ways and will provide updates as we receive them.
This is also the first Advanced start for Doug Payne with his newer ride, Vandiver. They look to have had a great time out on course today, picking up 13.6 time for sixth place overnight.
Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery. Photo courtesy of Allie Conrad Photography.
There were two mandatory retirements in the Open Intermediate, which is currently led by Phillip Dutton and Z. Dana Cooke and FE Ophelia and Sara Siegel and Pure Possession ended their weekends with an MR, and we are also awaiting word on how these pairs are doing. Evidently it was quite the busy day for the medics on site! Please check back to this post as we will post updates here when they are received.
Tamie Smith and Mai Baum didn’t let go of their lead on cross country today, picking up 4.8 time penalties to finish on a three-phase score of 46.1. This pair is coming off a win in the CIC3* at Rebecca Farm as well, and they’ve bested that score by 6.8 points this time around.
Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 also held their position through cross country, taking home second follwed by Bunnie Sexton and Rise Against. Lauren Billys and her Pan Ams mount, Castle Larchfield Purdy, finished their weekend in fourth on a final score of 75.8, and Gina Economou and Calidore complete the division on a score of 94.5.
Unfortunately, Alyssa Phillips as well as Kevin Baumgardner fell from their horses on cross country today, and Barb Crabo withdrew Over Easy prior to the final phase.
Click here to see live scores from Copper Meadows.
That’s a lot of mud! Photo via Liz Halliday-Sharp on Facebook.
Breda
Liz Halliday-Sharp is still sitting in a great position in the CIC3* at Breda in the Netherlands aboard Fernhill By Night. It was a supremely soggy day for competition, and Liz posted on her Twitter page that she was still thrilled with how hard her horses tried despite the slop.
Well, all I can say is that my horses are absolute heroes today for show jumping in what can only be described as the…
Liz picked up 7 penalties in the show jumping today with “Blackie” but will be in fourth place heading into tomorrow’s cross country. HHS Cooley dropped a few places to 11th from sixth with, ironically, 11 penalties, but Liz will be pleased with her results today given the conditions.
In the lead is Pia Münker and Louis M, who picked up 8 faults but still managed to hold their lead on a two day score of 39.2. Just six of the 45 horse field jumped clear inside the time — a remarkable feat given the mud!
Mark Burke and Prince William. Photo by Tim O’Neal.
Aspen Farms
Mary Burke and Prince William have held their lead in the Tin Men Supply Advanced at Aspen Farms, picking up just one second’s worth of time on cross country today to finish the day on a score of 35.6. Mary was pleased with her horse’s effort in their first Advanced together. “I felt challenged with the course today but he gave excellent effort,” she said in a press release. “It felt great as our first Advanced and we came of course with more confidence for the future. Tomorrow in Show Jumping I am going to try and stay focused and ride my best.”
Fence 6AB. Photo by Chesna Klimek.
Allison Sparks and Mystic Mojo moved from fourth into second with 10 time penalties incurred, followed by Karen O’Neal and Hollywood Diva. Sadly, Marc Grandia and Fernhill Eagle had a Mandatory Retirement at fence 6, a one stride into the water. We are currently awaiting word on their condition following the fall and will update this post with further information.
By now we all know about Tim Burke’s big save on cross country today at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. After Tim’s 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Luckaun Quality, had a hairy moment at the gigantic Cottesmore Leap, it appeared that his stirrup became unfastened and was dangling under the horse’s stomach.
Mary Pat Stone caught this series of photos to capture the intensity of the moment when Tim realizes his stirrup is hanging by a leather thread.
Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Stone.
Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Stone.
Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Stone.
Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Stone.
Photo courtesy of Mary Pat Stone.
Not only was Tim almost pitched completely out of the saddle, he only had his left leg to right himself. Fortunately, both he and “Obie” kept their wits about them and managed to make a nice jump over the skinny option following the Leap. Once clear of that question, Tim slowed down to rebuckle his stirrup before continuing on.
Here’s the entire progression of events:
Samantha Clark was able to catch up with Tim after his ride, where he told her that he thought for a split second of pulling a Mark Todd and just kicking on with one stirrup. He made the sensible decision to take the time to right himself, though. Props to you, Tim!
The great news is, Tim and Obie went on to finish their round clear (albeit with a decent amount of time), and Tim said his horse pulled up full of running at the end, which is the biggest goal at the end of the day.
How does it feel to jump clean around what many people say is toughest 4* XC track in the world? Tim Bourke knows..! pic.twitter.com/YJWcABCcZT
We’re tipping our hats to Tim for keeping his head straight and continuing on in the face of a major equipment fail. I suppose none of us have any excuse when we lose our stirrups on cross country next!
You can find video of Tim and Luckaun Quality’s full cross country round on Bughley TV here.
Had you asked anybody Friday evening if they expected Michael Jung to hold the lead after cross country, chances are most people would have answered in the affirmative, but perhaps we expected him to be sitting in that position on his dressage leader and Rolex Kentucky winner, Fischerrocana FST.
Instead, after an almost freak stumble in the water just before the Lion Bridge boat, it was Olympic and WEG champion La Biosthetique Sam who rose to the occasion, jumping clear with just 0.8 of a time penalty and so moving up from 5th place into the lead.
As predicted the course caused plenty of trouble and fast clear rounds guaranteed a massive move up the leaderboard. Very few of the rides looked foot perfect and even the majority of those who jumped clear had to fight for it and you could see that.
Without being biased Lynn Symansky’s round on Donner was one of the nicest to watch, also impressive was our pathfinder Oliver Townend on his first horse Dromgurrihy Blue who moved up from 30th to 10th.
Chris Burton was lovely to watch on both his rides, and of course lying in third Jonelle Price is inimitable. By the end of the day Bill Levett had probably had time to watch quite a few rounds and was able to ride Improvise accordingly — aggressive and effective to move up to 6th place from 19th with just 4.8 time.
Conversely Tina Cook and Mark Todd sat like glue when most other people would have hit the deck, remained unruffled and executed their plans to come home with just a handful of time faults each and move into the top ten overnight.
Michael Jung limped into the media centre with a small scrape on his face and joked that after his aborted round on Fischerrocana he got back to the stables and his brother told him the pressure was now really on as Sam had just moved up into the top 6!
Michael was in great spirits despite his fall, probably because he still leads the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, and he told us he had a fantastic ride on Sam, “I know that he’s a really strong horse in the cross country, I know him from many competitions, many championships, he’s a very very strong horse. I was a little bit slow in the beginning, a little bit slow up the long hill to fence number 13 (Winner’s Avenue to Cottesmore Leap) but after this I wanted to catch the time and he was so much fighting and jumping, he was very, very good, he gave me a really good feeling.”
Michael couldn’t really explain exactly what happened under the Lion Bridge with the mare, but he did stress that she didn’t trip forwards and go down on her knees, rather she fell sideways into the water, “The first part with Fischerrocana was very quick — I think after 40 seconds it was finished! It was a very bad mistake — every jump up to there was good, just three (!) and then I went into the water and I thought it was good, and I was very slow, and then I was catching a good rhythm to the next fence and then she was falling into the water, very stupid.”
Tim Price moved into the reserve slot with a fast round on Ringwood Sky Boy, despite being slightly distracted by a wasp that flew into his shirt after the Discovery Valley and stung him a few times on his stomach.
Thinking it was a thorn he tried to alleviate the “peculiar scratchy sensation” but it wasn’t until he finished and lifted up his shirt and watched it fly away that he realised what had happened.
Apart from that, his round went more or less to plan he confirmed, “I wanted to survive it and I knew we were capable of that. Sky Boy’s not the most conventional jumper which I think at times was obvious for all to see but he’s got a lot of scope and he tries really hard and he’s very honest, and that stands us in good stead. When the technical elements come along my job gets a bit more difficult, he’s got a very long stride and he just wants to get there so the likes of The Trout Hatchery was a bit of a scramble and the Discovery Valley was not so great either. It was one of those courses that you had to respect it and ride it as it comes and use a bit of feel and make choices along the way.”
Tim’s wife Jonelle moved up to 3rd place overnight on her WEG 2014 ride Classic Moet with one of only two rounds inside the time, something Mark Todd had predicted yesterday, and something that was almost expected of her, “This reputation is becoming a bit of a problem actually! She’s a fast mare, I just have to keep up with her; she really did give me a fantastic round today, I think she was pretty faultless from start to finish. When we walked the course it was pretty big and imposing, very Burghley-like. Captain Mark Phillips built things we’d never seen before and I wasn’t really sure how they were going to ride but I was really pleasantly surprised.”
Chris Burton had the other clear inside the time on TS Jamaimo, his Adelaide 4* catch ride and winner, and said today the horse felt much more on the job and up for it the moment the left the start box compared to Badminton earlier in the Spring when it took him a while to get into his groove. Chris’s second ride Haruzac also went very well and lies right behind his stable mate in 5th place.
Bill Levett and Improvise looked very solid the whole way and round out the top six. Mark Todd kept us all on the edge of our seats, surviving one sticky moment after another on Leonidas, and I’m not sure how Tina Cook not only stayed on but managed to leave the Trout Hatchery without penalties after Star Witness hung a leg on the middle element.
William Fox-Pitt was just settling into a lovely rhythm on Fernhill Pimms who looked to be going better and better, and quickly too when he was held right before Fence 23, the big solid ‘Thomson’s Wall’ preceding Discovery Valley.
After what seemed an eternity while the course builders banged one plank back into place, they then let Charlotte Brear go before him as she was slowly making her way there and so the hold ended up being significant.
Once he was restarted William planned on going the long way at the Discovery Valley and then he said in a blonde moment in his effort to make up time he completely missed the B element, remembered as he was almost at the Land Rover arch and had to turn around, gallop back and catch it.
He finished clear but with 20 odd time penalties, but mostly all he could talk about afterwards was how thrilled and delighted he was with his horse who really did rise to the occasion around his first four star today.
Sam Griffiths was having a cracking ride on the experienced and very headstrong Happy Times but eventually his enthusiasm got the better of him, and after jumping huge over the ditch at Discovery Valley and pulling Sam up the hill he was in no position to jump the brush.
Niklas Bschorer’s campaign came to an early end when Tom Tom Go 3 fizzled to a halt between the fences coming out the Anniversary Splash. Oliver Townend was flying round at the very end of the day and Armada looked to be relishing the challenge, jumping easily and economically but was slightly ungenerous at the Trout Hatchery and despite picking up a 20 here they still came home with only 1.2 time penalties.
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by Lesley Ward.
Andrew Hoy’s run of bad luck continued when he parted company from Rutherglen at Capability’s Cutting but he did turn up in the mixed zone later to assure us he was ok.
Watching Pippa Funnell’s round was like watching her ten years ago, or even more — vintage Pippa — encouraging her horse, riding with such grit and determination but still so secure and effective; like her dressage on Thursday it’s an education to see her in action, and how nice to see Redesigned in the top 12 overnight.
Special shout outs also to Willa Newton who scorched round for 2.8 time but made it look effortless, and Sophie Jenman on Geronimo for a very stylish clear; Geronimo trotted past me as he was pulling up at the finish and he looked as if he was heading to the start box, an exciting combination to keep an eye on.
How exciting were our US combinations though? All four of our horses and riders who travelled over from the US have now jumped round what’s being called the toughest 4* course in the world.
Colleen Rutledge had to work for her clear round on the nine year old homebred Covert Rights, but said about halfway round it clicked in with him what was happening and he improved steadily from there on, and she said she finished with a ton of horse.
Lynn had a great round on Donner, and we’ve already put up her video of her post ride interview; Colleen’s, Tim’s and Laine’s are uploading very, very slowly but we’ll bring them to you as soon as we possibly can.
Tim Bourke had one sticky moment at the Cottesmore Leap and did very well to stay on on landing, but somehow lost his stirrup leather in the process. He said he considered doing a Mark Todd and continuing with just the one but decided he wasn’t high enough up in the rankings to warrant it, so spent probably close to a minute to readjust the leather and fasten it again before getting back underway. After that he and Luckaun Quality had a classy round, making it all look simple.
Laine brought her 16 year old OTTB Anthony Patch home with 40 jumping penalties but should be proud of what a great round they had. The first 20 at the boat under the Lion Bridge was an unlucky moment when Al spooked at something right beforehand and was left underpowered to jump it.
After that they both rose to the challenge; Al galloped round with his ears pricked, listening and responding to Laine and never losing his form over those massive jumps.
The second 20 came in the Trout Hatchery, and Laine admits that he just was too careful jumping in and didn’t meet the next fence right, but on meeting it exactly the same the second time she was more infuriated and rode more strongly and he did it regardless. Much more from Laine, Colleen and Tim on their rides when we can bring you those video interviews.
Mark Phillips professed himself pleased with the results today, “Obviously it was a big track so I was pretty nervous. I have to say a lot of the fences rode differently to what I expected. I was hoping for two or three inside the time. What really pleased me was that of all the horses who started I think only 12 didnt’ get home, I was expecting a bigger number than that over a track of this size. I think there were about 38 clear rounds (42 actually) which again is a good percentage so I’m a very relieved and happy man tonight.”
It’s likely that the course will stay the same way round next year as chopping and changing direction becomes expensive, and most riders agreed that it’s much tougher this way. When asked about various mistakes at specific questions Mark assessed that those who rode properly made a nice picture and those that didn’t: “Don’t come to Burghley if you’re going to ride backwards!”
We also had the opportunity to chat with Canadian rider Rebecca Howard, who is tentatively aiming for Pau with Riddle Master. Best of luck to Rebecca and “Rupert” with their fall plans!
Congratulations to all those who completed today; as Sam Griffiths mentioned yesterday any horse who gets round this course is something pretty special. Well done to all the grooms, families, connections and support crews, let’s hope that tonight is not too long for them — most of the riders were in agreement that the footing was close to perfect.
Thank you to our esteemed photographer Nico Morgan for all his beautiful shots, and thank you and major props to all the volunteers, jump judges and media press tent personnel who all combine to make Burghley one of eveybody’s favourite events.
The Final Horse Inspection is at 9 a.m. local/4 a.m. EST Sunday morning, the first group will show-jump at 10:30 a.m. local/5:30 a.m. EST and the final group will start at 2:25 p.m. local/9:25 a.m. EST.
It’s been awhile since we broke out our By the Numbers series for a big event — and no, we aren’t attempting to pick the winner this time! We went through Burghley.tv’s wonderful video on demand service and broke down the numbers on what each rider wore to get an idea for the general consensus of the field.
As is commonplace with European events, top hats ruled the roost, with just 17 out of 65 riders donning a helmet in lieu of a top hat. We also saw that hardly any horses required breastplates — just four in total had them on for this phase.
It’s very interesting to take a look at rider/horse preferences and how they look when put together, so without further ado, here are some quick stats from Burghley dressage:
Good morning and welcome to Burghley cross country day — the moment we’ve all been waiting for! I will be updating this thread as often as possible to get you as close to live on the action as I can. With the absence of a live stream, we have to improvise a bit, but we will report on all of the action as it happens, so stay tuned!
Here are your withdrawals prior to cross country:
Joseph Murphy and Sportsfield Othello
Francis Whittington and Fernhill Highlight
Alex Postolowsky and Islanmore Ginger
Pippa Funnell and Second Supreme (8:50 AM EST)
Sarah Bullimore and Reve du Rouet (9:12 AM EST)
And your U.S. ride times:
Lynn Symansky and Donner – 12:20 p.m. local / 7:20 a.m. EST (CLEAR with 13.2 time)
Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch – 1:44 p.m. local / 8:44 a.m. EST (40 jumping, 46.4 time)
Tim Bourke (IRE) and Luckaun Quality – 2:00 p.m local / 9 a.m. EST (CLEAR with 35.6 time)
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights – 3:00 p.m. local / 10 a.m. EST (CLEAR with 28.4 time)
12:30 p.m. EST: Many, many thanks to Nico Morgan Photography for providing these great shots from today!
Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Jonelle Price and Classic Moet. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Jonelle Price and Classic Moet. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam. Photo by Nico Morgan Photography.
12:24 p.m. EST: We’re still not exactly sure how he righted this! It does appear that he stopped to fix the stirrup, so he appears to have gotten it back for the remainder of the course. Here’s Tim Bourke’s stirrup fail:
12:18 p.m. EST: Some more highlights from Lainey and Al’s round:
12:12 p.m. EST: Lainey Ashker and Anthony Patch’s unfortunate early stop:
12:10 p.m. EST: The videos are finally uploading faster, so we’ll have GIFs incoming from our U.S. riders!
11:31 a.m. EST: Thanks to Mary Pat Stone for this ridiculous shot of Tim Bourke’s equipment fail today. We were able to see later that it appears he fixed and reclaimed his stirrup. Amazing! Stay tuned for more shots from this incident!
11:02 a.m. EST: Here is your leaderboard following cross country. Additionally, the U.S. (and U.S. based Irishman!) rankings are as follows: Lynn Symansky 20th (60.9), Colleen Rutledge 30th (74.9), Tim Bourke 45th (100.6) and Lainey Ashker 54th (135.2).
11:00 a.m. EST: And that’s a wrap on a very exciting cross country day at Burghley! We will be working hard on your end of day report, press conference quotes, and much more so keep it locked right here on EN. In the meantime, take a look back through our open thread to catch up on what you missed. Also, the rides are uploading as we speak to Burghley.tv, so we basically have the rest of your day planned. You’re welcome.
11:00 a.m. EST:
Oliver and Townend complete 2 seconds over but picked up a 20pens. Complete on a score of 59.9 #LRBHT
10:58 a.m. EST: Husband and wife duo Tim and Jonelle Price will hold second and third respectively after cross country. How’s that for wedded bliss??
10:55 a.m. EST: An uncharacteristic runout for Armada with Oliver Townend at the Trout Hatchery means Michael Jung will officially hold the lead with La Biosthetique Sam going into show jumping.
10:43 a.m. EST: A little trip down memory lane for you…
10:41 a.m. EST: Jonelle has to be one of my favorites to watch on cross country. Her round at WEG was just priceless. I mean, you can’t get just 4 time penalties on a course that’s taking victims left and right and not gain a few fans, right?
Jonelle is absolutely flying!!! Seriously class round so far #GoKiwis
10:25 a.m. EST: A look at the end of Andrew James’ round with the 10-year-old Movistar, who was contesting his first CCI4*. Seriously questioning the decision-making in this round — a clearly exhausted horse who can barely stay on its feet. Here’s hoping he’s recovered ok at least.
10:23 a.m. EST:
Live scores showing clear with 28.4 time for Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights #LRBHT
8:59 a.m. EST: Lainey and Al are home with 40 jumping and 46.4 time. She’ll be gutted with those 20s but she’s completed her first Burghley cross country.
7:32 a.m. EST: THEY DID IT! Our first U.S. pair crushes the course and comes home clear with 13.2 time! You can all release those held breaths now. Whew! On to Laine and Al at 8:44 EST!
7:00 a.m. EST: For inquiring minds, I’ve been refreshing Burghley.tv every few minutes and no videos have popped up just yet. Lead time I think was about an hour, so any minute now…
7:00 a.m. EST:
Georgie Spence clear Trout Hatchery on Wii Limbo as Hannah bate & Finbury Hill nippy thru arena. Paul Tap we on XC with Vanir Kamira
6:49 a.m. EST: Speaking of beast mares. Let us not forget this mare crushed the Badminton-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named in 2014 to take home the win. Yes please.
Simon Grieve & Cornacrew take the long route at Trout Hatchery but clear. Paulank Brockagh v strong but fast thru Dairy Farm direct route
6:47 a.m. EST: Three eliminations, two completions with stops (Austin O’Connor & Louise Harwood) in the first 45 minutes. Should be an exciting day, to say the least!
6:38 a.m. EST: It appears Michael Jung is up but walking with a limp after his fall from Rocana. What a shame!! We’ll keep you updated on his status with Sam, his second ride.
6:38 a.m. EST:
Ben Way also off at Rolex Combination. Ben up and walking, Galley Light galloped off
6:31 a.m. EST: Ollie Townend has the quickest round so far (still early going, mind you) with 5.6 time penalties as the trailblazer. That guy, man. He can ride some cross country.
6:30 a.m. EST:: Ze Terminator is coming, Ze Terminator is coming! Michael Jung and his first ride, fisherRocana FST are set to start in just a few minutes. I can’t wait to see how this mare crushes this course. #marecrush
6:29 a.m. EST:
Ireland’s Austin O’Connor on course riding Morning Venture. They are looking good through the Lion Bridge. #LRBHT
6:22 a.m. EST:Our newest starter is Chris Burton and his first ride, Haruzac. I have not seen anything on Dee Hankey and Chequers Playboy, who were set to start before Chris.
6:10 a.m. EST: Louise Harwood and Mr Potts are your next starters on course.
6:08 a.m. EST: Fun fact, Ollie Townend is the only rider with three rides this weekend. 8 other riders have two rides, although Francis Whittington has just one now with the withdrawal of Fernhill Highlight.
6:06 a.m. EST:
Paul Sims and Glengarnoock about to start as Oliver Townend flies over Cottesmore Leap
Lucinda Green at Burghley 2015. Photo by Nico Morgan.
Many thanks to Lucinda Green, a two time former winner of Burghley and of course six time winner of Badminton and medals too numerous to mention, for sitting down to chat quickly about the big, bold course the riders will face shortly. Lucinda thinks …
“It’s a cracker. It’s as big a course as I’ve seen, and I’m thrilled because the standard has to be raised at the top end in order for the sport not to just dwindle into a show-jumping and dressage competition. My worry is that the horses and riders are not going to be prepared because the events below this have become tamer and tamer.
“This year particularly we had Luhmühlen CCI4* that was no way a qualification for this, Saumur which was more like a two and a half star and Badminton which wasn’t a four star in the vein it needs to be. We’ve had two good three stars at Bramham and Tattersalls and furthermore the Advanced One Day Events don’t really ask enough because there’s always another one you can go to that will be easier. Therefore horses are going to get their qualifications and have got here really possibly not ready.
“Also I think fitness wise people don’t realise how fit they’ve got to be and this is a serious course because it’s maximum stretch the whole time, and the idea behind a four star is there shouldn’t be too many let-ups and there aren’t. Mentally I think the riders and the horses are going to get very tired, so I’m delighted because I think it’s a very brave course and I think there’s a lot of flow to it if you are prepared to go the straight ways, there’s a lot of flow and I don’t think it’s unfair — the horses can see what they’ve got to do, there’s not a trick.”
The Trout Hatchery on the Land Rover Burghley 2015 XC course. Photo by Samantha Clark.
“Probably the most difficult fence is the Trout Hatchery because it happens so quickly and the horses will be tired, most of the other fences aren’t happening as quickly as that. It’s very demanding and I am absolutely delighted that it is, but I am slightly nervous that it will cause too much trouble and then Burghley as a course will be blamed when in fact what should be blamed is the steps below it aren’t sufficient.”
“I wouldn’t mind sitting on the mare of Michael Jung’s” fischerRocana FST. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Which horse would Lucinda pick to ride around the course?
“I wouldn’t mind sitting on the mare of Michael Jung’s [fischerRocana FST] because I think she’s been taught to find her way across country and think for herself, and hopefully she’s scopey enough! She’s certainly scopey enough to jump a fence as big as this, but there’s thirty of them.
“The other thing I shall be very interested to see is Michael Jung I don’t think will ever have hit a course that demands such a level of fitness so I’ll be interested to see if his horses are fit enough. He’s such a consummate professional and such a brilliant man that I can’t believe they won’t be, and I know where he lives on the Bavarian hills so I think they’ll be fine.
“There’s another horse I’m looking forward to watching — Cooley Business Time with Georgie Strang, I think that’s a really, really good little horse, it’s the first time here for both of them so it’s a big ask. I wouldn’t want anything too big because I’d want to be able to keep up a rhythm and just keep galloping, and they’d be able to just shorten their own stride if they were wrong and get over the fence; a great, big rangy horse will get quite tired I would think, from being pulled together all the time.”
Many, many thanks to Lucinda for her time and words of wisdom. Cross country starts within an hour and we’ll be live tweeting as well as joining Horse and Hound‘s live stream commentary. Wishing all the riders and their teams the very best rides today, safe and speedy, and fingers crossed for a good day’s sport. Go Lucinda Green the legend, and Go Eventing at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials Cross Country Day.
Elise's first horse show selfie with her coach Hawley Bennett. Photo from Hawley'Bennett's Facebook page
I still haven’t mastered the horse-show selfie. I typically find myself squinting in to my iPhone, trying to get a decent angle. Then of course, my pony moves and some how I bump it over to video. I usually end up with 5-10 seconds of sky, my chin, a blur of pony and some mumbled “dammit, hold still”. One day I will master the horse show selfie. It’s going to take quite a bit of practice to catch up with Elise and Hawley in selfie-skills though!
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo courtesy of Allie Conrad Photography.
We’re seeing lots of competitive dressage scores today after dressage completed for the Advanced and CIC3* divisions at the weekend’s headlining events. We have two Advanced and one CIC3* event running this weekend: Advanced at Five Points and Aspen Farms and CIC3* at Copper Meadows. Plus there’s another Big B going on this weekend in addition to Burghley — Breda in The Netherlands!
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice will take the lead in the Advanced at Five Points on a score of 27.1 in the Irish gelding’s first competition back since Rolex. That puts them just ahead of Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border, who are our predicted pick for the win this weekend.
Kim and Cooley Cross Border earned a 28.4 nod from the judges ahead of Sharon White and Clifford M, who scored a 29.1 but was withdrawn from the Advanced division later in the afternoon along with his stablemate Cooley On Show. Sharon has been battling a herniated disc in her back, and we’re sending her positive healing thoughts.
That withdrawal moves Michael Pollard and Halimey into third place overnight on a score of 29.6 in his first Advanced start since March — he most recently placed second in the CIC2* at Richland Park. Michael also had a rocking day in the Open Intermediate, where he scored a 19.2 with Boris O’Hara, a 9-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Kathleen McDermott. I think we need to start keeping a record of Michael’s sub-20 dressage scores — how low can he go?
Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery, one of his newer rides that he recently acquired from Kelly Prather, sit in fourth with a score of 30.0. This is Boyd and Blackfoot Mystery’s second start together, the first at Advanced, so it will be exciting to see how their partnership has progressed early on. Boyd also rounds out the top five with Steady Eddie on a score of 30.4.
Tamie Smith and Mai Baum lead the Copper Meadows CIC3* after show jumping. Photo by Natalie Kuhny.
Copper Meadows
Over on the West Coast, it’s all Tamie Smith in the Professional’s Choice CIC3* at Copper Meadows. Tamie and the Ahearn family’s Mai Baum, who we’ve predicted to win this division, scored a 41.3 in dressage and then jumped a clear show jumping round to lead after the first two phases.
“Lexus” is prepping for the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International CCI3* this fall (for which they just received a USEF Land Rover Competition Grant) so Tamie will be looking to keep the 9-year-old German gelding on the right track as he aims for his first CCI3*.
Andrew Baxter and Indy 500, who won the CIC3* here in June, are sitting in second their dressage score of 57.5 after also jumping a clear round. Alyssa Phillips and Bliss III moved up one spot to third on their dressage score of 60.9 after jumping a clear show jumping round.
Frankie Thieriot Stutes and Ride On Video have once again partnered up to bring us videos from Copper Meadows. Click here to watch dressage and show jumping highlights and then click here to watch a preview of Hugh Lochore’s CIC3* track. (Isn’t Frankie an adorable eight-month prego?)
How many Corgis does it take to walk a cross country course at Aspen Farms? Thanks to Aspen for sharing this fun photo by Ashley Shaw Colonel!
Aspen Farms
A smaller division of four is contesting the Tin Men Supply Advanced at Aspen Farms in Yelm, Washington. You can take a look at Chesna Klimek’s fence-by-fence cross country course preview that we posted earlier here.
Mary Burke and Prince William are your Advanced leaders, scoring a 35.2 for the overnight lead. This is Mary and Prince William’s first full Advanced together — they finished second in the Advanced/Intermediate at Whidbey Island in July.
“For our first Advanced he was very rideable and relaxed which made for a smooth and accurate test,” Mary said after the test. “I was pleased the areas that I have been working with him in dressage have improved. I am looking forward to doing the Advanced cross-country course tomorrow. I am also very excited to be participating in my first Gold Cup Series event and want to thank all the sponsors that make it possible.”
Mary Burke and Prince William lead the Aspen Farms Advanced division. Photo by Tim O’Neil.
Karen O’Neal and Hollywood Diva are placed second after the dressage on a score of 39.7, followed by Marc Grandia and Fernhill Eagle to round out the top three. You may remember Fernhill Eagle as a former ride of Phillip Dutton’s — they placed 11th at Rolex in 2013 and 12th in 2012. This is the first step up to Advanced for Marc and Fernhill Eagle as a pair.
There’s another very familiar name out at Aspen this weekend in Gin & Juice, who is returning to competition for the first time since competing at the 2014 World Equestrian Games with former rider Hawley Bennett. Sara Mittleider has now taken over the ride on the 15-year-old Thoroughbred mare; Sara and “Ginny” scored 18.9 to lead the Open Preliminary division overnight.
Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night at Breda. Photo courtesy of Liz.
Breda
Liz Halliday-Sharp has both her top mounts Fernhill By Night and HHS Cooley out in the CIC3* at Breda in the Netherlands this weekend, and she’s positioned very well after dressage. Fernhill By Night is in second place in the 47-horse field on a personal best score of 36.1, sitting behind Pia Münker and Louis M, while HHS Cooley is in sixth on 44.7.
Cooley is returning to competition following a minor injury at The Fork in April, so it’s great to see him back out and about. Liz said on her Facebook page that she was very pleased with both horses, who held it together despite the fact that the FEI World Driving Championships for Ponies were being held right next to the dressage ring!
U..S Team Coach David O'Connor watching one of his riders prepare for dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials today. Photo by Samantha Clark.
U.S. Team Coach David O’Connor was kind enough to stop and chat this afternoon at Burghley once all the dressage was over and discuss the U.S. performances thus far, and his expectations for them cross country on Saturday. On the whole he was pleased with the way the first two days panned out for Team USA.
“I thought the quality of all of them was good, but there were little things that took away from the scores being under 45. It’s not that electric of a ring; I think it’s intimate enough that it’s not that electric. Sometimes the big rings at places like Kentucky can be more electric because everything is so far away. But with smaller rings like this, they don’t tend to change as much as they can in other rings. The horses I thought all performed and went well, it was just little mistakes that kept them from being below 45, which to me is the big mark.”
Comparing Burghley today to say, eleven years ago when Andrew Hoy won on Moonfleet as we talked about yesterday in the press conference, David is in agreement that the depth of quality has increased exponentially.
“There were always one or two people or horses that were playing dressage at this level. Now there are 18 or 20 that are playing at a very high level. It’s not just the quality of it, it’s more the numbers of people who have risen to that level. That’s changed the competitiveness, and that’s a very healthy thing for the sport.”
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights in the dressage phase at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2015. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Speaking of the good old days, David did of course fondly remember Giltedge — who passed away yesterday at 29 years of age — and maintains he would have been a competitive horse today, although he never brought him to Burghley,
“I never thought that this was his course, it wasn’t his type of course. He wasn’t the fastest horse in the world but he was so competitive in his mind, he tried so hard in everything that he did, he was SO competitive, he just loved being in the game but I never brought him here. This is not the course for every horse; you can have Olympic Champions and World Championship horses that will win those but they aren’t all Burghley horses.
“I think Giltedge would be just as competitive today, in a general market in the sport, there’s no question because he was very consistent in the dressage, in the 30s — a 41 was a bad score for him. He always jumped clear in the show jumping, and the cross country he just hammered on it, so I think he would have been very, very competitive today as he was then. He had all his changes; none of it would have been an issue.”
The cross country, of course, looms large tomorrow, in fact it looms enormous (click here to preview the course), but David is hopeful that the squad here this weekend will get the job done,
“We walked the course yesterday. I’ve been around it three times already. They’ve been walking it on their own today, and we’ll come back to talk about it this evening. It’s a fitness course. Going the other way around, I think the terrain will have more of an effect than it has in the past years, so it could play very much into these Thoroughbreds in lots of ways. It will be a big day tomorrow.”
Lynn Symansky and her OTTB XC specialist Donner the Deer. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Lynn Symansky and Laine Ashker are of course both sitting on OTTBs, or ex-racehorses as they’re better known over here, and David wants them to capitalise on their opportunity to make a move,
“I really want Lynn to think about going for it and being very competitive; it should be a very good day for her. I think with Colleen’s horse being the youngest, she will need to go out and try to make it a good day for him. If he’s getting impressed, she might need to take some longer routes. I think Lainey is going to go for it. Even though it’s her first time here, it’s an older horse and this is why she brought him. I think she’ll take a crack at it.”
Laine Ashker and her OTTB Anthony Patch on the eve of Land Rover Burghley cross country day. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Nervously anticipating a full day tomorrow and hopefully a successful one for our U.S. riders and adopted Irishman. Eventing Nation will be joining the Horse and Hound live stream again at this link, but also live tweeting the cross country from our Twitter account for anyone who can’t be chained to a laptop all day. There is no live stream for Burghley, but you can watch on demand video soon after each rider completes at this link.
Many thanks to David and all the U..S riders for their time and patience talking to EN this weekend; fingers crossed for some celebratory interviews popping up online this time tomorrow. Go Cross Country fast and safe, Go Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and Go Eventing!
The bar was set high on the first day of dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Michael Jung set the standard that went unchallenged until today with his Rolex winning mare, fischerRocana FST, earning a 34.2 to set the early lead.
It’s a tightly bunched leaderboard, as we all expected, and Burghley has put together a great video highlighting the sandbox action from day one. As we know now, it’s Michael Jung and William Fox-Pitt with Fernhill Pimms sharing the lead at the moment, and our three American ladies are holding down the fort with positions in the top 35.
Samantha Clark has done a bang up job with her coverage of the event so far, and you can catch up on all of the reports here. Stay tuned for much more to come this weekend from Burghley!
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice held the lead in the Advanced division at Five Points. Photo courtesy of Allie Conrad Photography.
