Time of the essence on Burghley cross-country

Everyone knows that Burghley is big and its tough. But what we didn’t expect this year was quite so many time penalties.

Influential

According to Team GBR eventing performance manager Yogi Breisner it was the tight twists and turns which ensured none of the field made the 11min 19sec optimum time.

“That kind of course takes it out of the horses – they didn’t get tired but it was hard work for them,” Yogi told H&C. “It’s great because it means that the cross-country is influential and becomes a very exciting competition.”

You can hear what else Yogi has to say about the cross-country coursehere.

It certainly did have an impact on the top three standings. Jock Paget, who was in the lead after the dressage, is now in fourth place with a total score of 55.2 after gaining 16.4 time penalties.

Surprised

Burghley course builder Mark Phillips said he was surprised the time caused so many problems.

“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “I was totally expecting these good horses and riders to get inside the time. It was almost as if I picked the wheel up a minute from the end. There was something different in the ground and the turns this year that made it ride differently.”

However, he said he was pleased with the fences, which he said rode as he expected. Out of 63 starters, a total of 42 completed – 36 of which went clear, 11 were eliminated and 10 retired.

Greedy

As you’d expect the first few fences caused no problems, but the slalom at fence four caused the most problems on the course. It comprised three single hurdles over open water trays on a serpentine.

“It wasn’t a total surprise there, as you can take as much time or as little time as you want,” said Mark Phillips. “Some people were going to get greedy.

William Fox-Pitt had a sticky moment there with Bay My Hero, while Polly Jackson (Highland Charm), Natalie Blundell (Algebra), NZ’s Craig Nicolai (Just Ironic) abd Sarah Stretton (Skip on II) all had a run-outs, while trying to ride a tight line.

Andrew Nicholson was one of the few riders to take the wider route – although he certainly make up for his caution elsewhere on the course.

Megan Heath had two stops in the arena with St Daniel, as did Sarah Wardell who then decided to retire Killeenduff Boy. New Zealand’s Tim Price, who isn’t having the best of weeks, fell out the side door on Ringwood Sky Boy.

Tricky line

The Discovery Valley (five) didn’t cause too many problems despite its tricky line (well, to us anyway) – which involved jumping over a hedge (a, b) shaped like a Land Rover, followed a skinny (c). Coral Keen had a run out with Wellshead Fare Opposition, which forced her to take the long route, while Polly Jackson had another 20pen with Highland Charm, and retired. It wasn’t Polly Jackson’s day as she had another two run-outs there later on, this time onboard Papillon.

The Elephant Trap (six) was a rider (or should we say journalist?) frightener – with its huge ditch and solid proportions. However it caused no concerns for the horses, who all jumped it clear.

Cosmic fences

The Classics Leaf Pit (seven and eight) is world-renowned for its terrifying drop fence. This wasn’t on the course this year, however, and was replaced by three rather cosmic fences.

Riders had to decide whether to take the shorter ‘inside’ turn to the Planet or take the longer approach before taking four or five strides to the Moon and then dropping down a very steep hill to the Sun.

Michael Owen had a stop there with Highland Prince, while Megan Heath had her third refusal with St Daniel and was eliminated. First-timers Natalie Blundell and Algebra from Australia both took a nasty tumble. Natalie was taken to hospital as a precaution but both horse and rider are said to be okay.

DiscoveryValley

The course then took riders back into the Discovery Valley (nine), which again didn’t cause many faults. Only Michael Owen had a run-out there with Highland Prince, which saw him retire.

Herbert’s Hollow (10,11) featured a new oxer, followed by a huge hedge seven strides later. This rode well, although Carolyne Ryan-Bell pulled up Rathmoyle King at this point.

The V Rails (12) over a large ditch looked daunting, but also caused no problems.

‘No thanks’

The first water jump on the course was the Land Rover Trout Hatchery (13, 14). While we didn’t see any soggy jodhs, the final line out of the water took some real riding. Most of the riders had to turn right after jumping back up onto dry land, before making a hard left hand turn to the final skinny element.

Dry Old Party said ‘no thanks’ at the first element and Tom McEwen decided to retire. Wellshead Fare Opposition also had two stops there with Coral Keen and was eliminated following their earlier run-out at Discovery Valley.

Polly Jackson retired her second horse Papillon there, after he refused for the third time.

Massive

The Captains Log (15), although big, didn’t prove a problem and provided a let-up for the horses before climbing up the hill and past the five-minute market to the Maltings (16, 17, 18)

The oxer at 16 generally jumped very well, despite its massive proportions, although Sarah Bullimore, who never really seemed to get into her groove with Valentino V, saw a long one, which left the horse unable to make the back rail. He clonked it with both his back legs, breaking the frangible pin and picking up faults.

Andrew Heffernan, on his Burghley debut, retired there with Millthyme Corollo.

Heart-stopping

Although the offset bounce at 17 caused a few heart-stopping moments for the spectators, it caused no problems for the riders. However, the final element (18), which was a corner, saw a number of riders faulting.

Matthew Wright had run-out with Cossan Lad, while RF Demeter ridden by USA’s Marilyn Little broke the frangible pine and knocked it down.

There were three falls at this fence. Gryffindor, ridden by Germany’s Kai Ruder, ran out first time and then unseated his rider on the second attempt, while USA’s Meghan O’Donoghue hit the deck along with her ride Pirate when he dropped a leg.

Neil Spratt jumped the bounce beautifully but then Upleadon dramatically tipped over at the corner element, landing on his rider. The horse was fine but Neil took a while to get up, although the course wasn’t held. He was then taken to hospital for a check-up.

Awesome

The Rolex Combination (19) saw horses tackle the Vicarage Vee, before bending to a brush corner that ran away to the right quite sharply.

Sara Squires pulled up Orto after knocking the fence with his stifle. He was clearly very lame and sadly euthanised later for welfare reasons.

USA’s Allison Springer who rode a good dressage test had a run out there with Arthur, as did Aoife Clarke (Vaguely North) while Magennis unseated Jim Newsome.

First-timer Harry Dzenis, the only first timer with two rides, went clear on Xam but picked up an unlucky 20 penalties when Dromgurrihy Blue jumped over the white flag on the corner element (19b). Quick thinking Harry circled him back to jump the alternative and avoid elimination.

“That was amazing,” said Harry after his first clear round. “Jumping the Cottesmore Leap was awesome – over far too quickly. I wasn’t pushing for the time, I wanted a clear and am thrilled.”

Held on course

The Land Rover Dairy Farm (20) saw many horses tentative on the big steps down, but the only horse to fault there was Just Ironic ridden by Craig Nikolai, who had a run out.

At the Hunting Lodge (21), riders are finally on their way home, although Andrew Hoy decided not to go any further with Rutherglen, whom he said wasn’t feeling 100 percent.

Despite being one of the biggest fences on the course, no one faulted at the Cottesmore Leap (22), while there was just one incident at the Picnic Table (23) when Rehy Too ridden by Gina Ruck fell. This stopped proceedings for a held for a while and both Sam Griffiths and Ben Hobday were held on course.

The horse was fine but Gina, who was riding her first Burghley, broke her ankle.

Spectacular

The Rolex Grand Slam Pardubice (24) was fault-free as was Capability’s Cutting (25, 26)despite the rails being a little bigger this year.

Then it was down the hill to Stamford Station (27). No-one had any problems except for one spectacular fall from Aoife Clarke. She was coming at quite a pace down the hill and tipped over the massive oxer, but the pair was soon back on its feet.

The second water complex at the Anniversary Splash (28) rode well and even the good old Lincolnshire Goose (29) didn’t put any horses off.

One dunking

It was back into the water for the third and final time at the Lion Bridge Marina (30). After jumping the first boat, riders had to decide whether to go through the middle arch and take the second boat on the angle, or play safe and go the longer route.

Craig Nicolai (NZ) provide the day’s only dunking, when Just Ironic had his third stop here causing him to take a tumble.

Tim Cheffings decided to retire at this point as Alinero Van Het Scharenberg was clearly running out of steam.

The final two fences on the course were fault-free, even though the final Picnic Table (32), which followed the Flower Frame, was huge!