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Course analysis The
FENCE 7ABCDEF: HOLLAND COOPER LEAF PIT
NINE combinations had problems here, including Sarah Bullimore and Corouet. The quick route consisted of the famous drop down to a brush box, followed by a moving three strides to a big corner (Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On are pictured here, right), and Laura Collett gave it a difficulty rating of 9/10 in H&H’s preview.
Emma Hyslop-Webb suffered a horse fall with Waldo III at the corner. Woods Baughman (C’est La Vie 135) notched up 20 here, as did Andrew James (Celtic Morning Star, 23rd)
First-timer Felicity Collins (RSH Contend OR) pulled up shortly after also having a run-out at the corner, while Zara Tindall (Class Affair) suffered the same fate. New Zealand’s Hollie Swain (Solo) ran out, but went on to finish in 28th place.
FENCE 10ABCDEF: TROUT HATCHERY
Oxer Over Ditch 6 7ABCDEF
Holland Cooper Leaf Pit
THIS consisted of a rolltop trailer, down a slope into the water over a right-handed corner, back onto dry land before jumping another rolltop trailer (Cathal Daniels is pictured here, below), back into water and over a narrow triple brush on three strides.
Woods Baughman was eliminated after having his third run-out here, while firsttimers Kristina Hall-Jackson and CMS Google ran past the triple brush, but finished 25th.
Four riders had falls at the brush corner element, including a rider fall for France’s Rodolphe Scherer (Song Du Magay) and horse falls for Danielle Dunn (Grandslam), Tom Rowland (Possible Mission) and Oliver Townend (Swallow Springs).
KEY
UR — unseated rider (elimination) HF — horse fall (elimination) R — refusal or run-out (20 penalties) Ret — retired B — broke a frangible device (11 penalties) TH — trapped horse (elimination) E — eliminated
Triple Bar 11
Household Cavalry Jackboot 12 8AB
5ABCDE
Defender Valley
Herbert’s Hollow 9
Trout Hatchery 10ABCDEF
13
Joules
At The
Maltings 14ABC
Lemieux
Stable Yard 4ABC
MAIN ARENA
Boodles Raindance Lion Bridge 27
28
26AB
Pol Roger Table
Agria Equine Lifetime Slate Mine 25
Rolex Grand Slam 24
Rolex
15 16AB
Burghley Barn
Defender At The Dairy Farm
Pictures by x xxxxxxxxxxx Pictures by x xxxxxxxxxxxFairfax & Favor Boot Racks 19AB
WHICH FENCES CAUSED PROBLEMS?
FENCE 4ABC — LEMIEUX STABLE YARD
Tiger Mail R
FENCE 5ABCDE — DEFENDER VALLEY
Kiltar OBOS R
FENCE 6 — OXER OVER DITCH
Tiger Mail R
FENCE 7ABCDEF — HOLLAND COOPER LEAF PIT
Waldo HF C’Est La Vie 135 R Celtic Morning Star R Corouet R+Ret RSH Contend Or R Class Affair R+Ret Solo R Oratorio II R Credo III Ret
FENCE 8AB — DEFENDER VALLEY
C’Est La Vie 135 R Uris Cavalier R Oratorio II Ret Darrant R
FENCE 9 — HERBERT’S HOLLOW
RSH Contend Or Ret
FENCE 10ABCDEF — TROUT HATCHERY
C’Est La Vie 135 R+E Song Du Magay UR Grandslam HF Possible Mission HF CMS Google R Swallow Springs HF
FENCE 14 — JOULES AT THE MALTINGS
Palm Crescent R
FENCE 19AB — FAIRFAX & FAVOR BOOT RACKS
Ringwood LB HF
Defender Finale
BURGHLEY HOUSE
FENCE 19AB: FAIRFAX & FAVOR BOOT RACKS
THESE two sets of square oxer rails proved to be a big effort for horses at the top of the course after a long uphill climb. Kitty King and Tom McEwen were the high-profile victims of 11 penalties for breaking frangibles here, while Susie Berry (Ringwood LB) and Sammi Birch (Finduss PFB) both had horse falls at the first element. Emma Hyslop-Webb retired her second horse, Darrant, here after his second refusal.
Voltaire Design
Pardubice
Cottesmore 20 Leap
Finduss PFB HF Vendredi Biats B Darrant R+Ret CHF Cooliser B
FENCE 20 — COTTESMORE LEAP
HD Bronze TH
FENCE 22AB — VOLTAIRE DESIGN BANK TO TRIPLE BAR
DHI Purple Rain B Uris Cavalier R
FENCE 23 — VOLTAIRE ROLEX GRAND SLAM
DHI Purple Rain Ret
FENCE 27 — LION BRIDGE Balladeer Humbel Guy
E (pulled up by ground jury
FENCE 29 — PARASOL TABLE
Tregilder HF
US rider Emily Hamel makes her Burghley debut, jumping clear after some quick thinking with the big-jumping Corvett to finish 20th
and she now has three five-star completions (two with double clears) in the past 12 months with her mother Caroline’s home-bred. They finished Derek di Grazia’s track with 6.8 time-faults, rising from 30th to eighth going into the showjumping.
Another Burghley first-timer, the US’s Emily Hamel, also pinged around with her fabulous grey, Corvett, who looks like he sprouts wings as he jumps. She was originally given 20 penalties after having a sticky moment getting into the Trout Hatchery, but Emily
reacted quickly and opted for the long route and the 20 penalties were removed after a review.
VITALI IMPRESSES
SARAH BULLIMORE’S hopes of securing a five-star result with Corouet came to a premature end with a run-out at the corner at the bottom of the Leaf Pit, as did Zara Tindall and Class Affair.
Tim Price rode a masterful round on Vitali, clocking 5.2 timefaults, saying: “He’s inexperienced but a very typey little horse with plenty of scope. But he’s never seen a course like that. I gave him a bit of time in the first half of the course and I was – surprised is perhaps the wrong word – but with how he dealt with the size of the fences and the difficulty in the first half. And then again I was pleasantly surprised by the way he really pulled home for me.”
Oliver Townend looked to be going well and close to the time on a tiring Tregilder, but they fell just two fences from home. The day didn’t get much better for Oliver when Swallow Springs fell at the corner in the Trout Hatchery.
Toronto D’Aurois has his own style of going, favouring a hollow jumping shape on occasion, but this didn‘t stop him and his
French rider Arthur Duffort from posting a good clear round with 10.8 time-faults.
Michael Owen and the evergreen Bradeley Law, who is now 18, added a fifth five-star cross-country completion to their record, eating up the track for 16.4 time-faults. Sadly Michael did not present at the final horse inspection.
Frenchman Cedric Lyard was another to jump clear, clocking 17.6 time-fauts with Unum De’Or, before William Fox-Pitt and the often keen-running Oratorio II ran out at the corner at the bottom of the Leaf Pit. They jumped the alternative before pulling up.
Bubby Upton’s class round
KITTY KING ON VENDREDI BIATS’ ERROR
on Cola III was the definition of redemption. She is surely sick of everyone bringing it up, but her final fence run-out at Badminton this spring has stuck in the memory and it was in no way a reflection of the round she had given Cola up until that point. So many relished seeing her cruise around Burghley to a deserved clear, riding with poise, class and a steely look of determination on her face.
Her relatively quick round for 10 time-faults meant she climbed from 11th after the dressage to seventh.
Helen Wilson and My Ernie also put a disappointing Badminton behind them, jumping a steady clear, with Helen showing all of her class as a rider to keep this 13-year-old’s confidence, especially given he only started eventing in 2019.
DRIFTING UP THE RANKS
ONE of the standout rounds was that of Tom Jackson with Capels Hollow Drift. The grey looked
to be on rails, never giving those watching a moment of doubt and coming home third-fastest of the day with 3.6 time-faults, climbing from 13th after dressage to fourth.
The pair were held halfway round owing to Sammi Birch’s fall breaking a frangible device, and although Tom said that it probably helped his horse come home quicker, he had never been held before, so he didn’t know how Capels Hollow Drift would react.
DESIGNER DEREK DI GRAZIA
“He went round Badminton really well in the spring and has come here and delivered even better, so I couldn’t be happier. It’s quite hard work out there,” said Tom.
Rosie Thomas was clear up until being pulled up by the ground jury four from home, as Balladeer Humbel Guy was visibly tiring and had thrown some awkward jumps as a result.
Sarah Clark made her long trip over from Australia with LV Balou Jeanz worthwhile, jumping a very accomplished clear round, while the heartwarming story of the day had to be local rider Phil Brown’s steady and measured round with Harry Robinson (see box, p51).
Dressage leaders Kitty King and Vendredi Biats made nothing of the Derek di Grazia track, with the grey using his effortless scope to best effect. That was until the first part of the Fairfax & Favor Boot Racks, where he seemed to misread the fence and not clock the back rail. He went to put down before quickly picking back up again. However, it was too late and the frangible device broke, meaning 11 penalties were added to their score.
Kitty was level-headed about the situation, admitting that undoubtedly the frangible device prevented a nastier incident.
“I’m just gutted for the horse – he was absolutely class the whole way and gave me a great ride,” said Kitty. “He’s such a careful horse and just completely misread it. He jumped the first part and put down, then tried to take off again in the middle. It’s such a shame – he doesn’t deserve it and neither do my owners and team, but that’s the sport.”
JONELLE PRICE TAKES NEW PRIZE
NEW at Burghley for 2022 was the Avebury Trophy, donated by Rosemary and Mark Barlow, owners of three-time Burghley winner Avebury, and awarded for the best cross-country round of the day, as judged by Mark Phillips.
This year’s winner was Jonelle Price on Classic Moet (pictured).
Explaining why he had chosen Jonelle, Mark said: “Jonelle Price’s round was the only one of the day to be inside the time – but that wasn’t the deciding factor. She did it more easily than the others and still had time to add a stride at the final two fences.
“I thought the other two outstanding rounds came from Bubby Upton and Tom Jackson, because they also made it look easy, and the best cross-country performances are those that do that.”
They came home with six timefaults and were sixth going into the final phase, but without the 11 penalties, they would have held third place after the cross-country.
Ros Canter (Pencos Crown Jewel), Pippa Funnell (Majas Hope), Cathal Daniels (Rioghan Rua) and Tom McEwen (CHF Cooliser) all put in stunning clear rounds at the end of the day, bar the 11 penalties that CHF Cooliser incurred for breaking a frangible device at the second of the Fairfax & Favor Boot Racks, when she quite literally booted the front rail out after Tom added a stride. Cathal did not present Rioghan Rua at the final horse inspection.
A FRESH LOOK
MANY praised Derek di Grazia’s fresh take on the Burghley track.
“It became clear early on in the day that the time was going to be difficult to get, but that’s not unusual for Burghley,” said Derek. “The good riders understood the questions I was putting to them and they also knew how to get their horses home safely.”
Derek hinted that another fresh-look Burghley could be on the cards for 2023.
“I like to wipe the slate clean in my brain and not have my brain telling me I need to do something in particular with the course, so I can go away and try to create new challenges for the riders,” he said.
