Colleen and Shiraz finished a wonderful weekend at Burghley, photo courtesy of Allie Conrad
Despite the rain, the show jumping course rode well in the grass for the morning session of show jumping. 7 of the 30 pairs had double-clears although several riders had time penalties. The terrain is always a factor at Burghley, but this course seems designed to the horses’ benefit. The top 24 riders will show jump starting at 2:30pm local, 9:30am ET, after the lunch break.
With just two North American pairs left to show jump later this afternoon, Jessica Phoenix and Exponential of Canada are the top placed North American pair in the clubhouse. They jumped a double-clear which is almost expected from Exponential, no matter the size of the fences. Samantha credited them with an almost perfect ride and said they looked like they could jump anything. As the highest placed Canadian pair at Burghley, Jessie and Tucker get to go into the winter loving their chances to compete for Canada at the Olympics.
Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz finish their great weekend one spot behind Jessie after pulling just a rail in the show jumping. Colleen and Shiraz also finished 12th at Rolex this year and they are one of only three US pairs to get around the Burghley cross-country course without a stop. They haven’t been put on the latest training lists or received any grants this year and they are consistently outperforming most of the people who have. Go watch their XC video that we posted this morning–this pair is completely legit and people will have to take notice after this weekend.
Julian Stiller and Chapel Amble jumped so high that they had 3 time penalties. Samantha credited Chapel Amble with the most stylish round of the morning so far and said that they jumped a mile in the air. That horse can jump and despite 20 penalties yesterday they should go away from their second four-star with a lot to look forward to in the future.
Hawley Bennett and Gin & Juice finished their weekend with one rail in the show jumping. Samantha reported that Ginny knocked an oxer behind early on the course but looked fresh and wonderful throughout the round. Despite the 20 penalties they received yesterday, they were one of the only two Canadian pairs to complete Burghley this weekend. You have to like their odds to compete again for Team Canada at the Olympics, particularly because Ginny is going will fit the Olympic track quite well.
A few additional show jumping notes from Samantha:
–The time is definitely a big factor on Richard Jeffery’s course.
—Ireland had three riders show jump, all of them were clear and inside the time.
—Ben Hobday rode a nice round if a bit slow, but he still looked delighted to finish his first Burghley.
—Laura Collett never fails to impress as a rider and competitor. She packaged up the great big Noble Bestman and jumped clear but with 1 time fault.
—Matthew Wright’s Well Spotted looked tired despite all Matthew’s coaxing and had 4 down.
—Pippa Funnell had a lovely round with Mirage D’Elle in a hackamore.
—Emily Llewellyn jumped a lovely clear on Pardon Me and didn’t look to be hanging around but they had 4 time faults.
–The rain has stopped for now, but who knows what it will be doing this afternoon.
Burghley is on a lunch break now until the afternoon show jumping. One thing to keep an eye on is how the turf holds up as more and more horses jump on it. Stay tuned for the live blog to follow Boyd’s and Sinead’s rides as well as the final results. Will William make it six Burghley wins, can Carolina Powell make it two Burghley wins in a row? Will Mary King make it two 4* wins in 2011? The top 4 riders are separated by less than a rail, making for an awesome finish to Burghley’s 50th anniversary.
Go eventing.
