Main image: Sophia Hill and Humble Glory on cross country at the CCI5*L Defender Burghley Horse Trials. Image by Hannah Cole Photography.
Sophia Hill and Humble Glory flew around the five-star course at Defender Burghley Horse Trials on Saturday, clocking just 8.4 time faults. Unfortunately the pair activated a frangible pin device early in the course at 5a and therefore accrued an additional 11 faults, but otherwise they had a cracking round.
Finishing on a total of 56.3 and in 25th place, Sophia and Hughie leapt up the leaderboard from 50th after the dressage phase. Minus the frangible pin activation, they could have finished the day as high as 17th, but that’s eventing.
“It was an amazing cross country day at Defender Burghley Horse Trials and Hughie was incredibly brave,” said Sophia. “I’m gutted to have had a frangible pin, but equally know I should be happy to have jumped around Burghley CCI5*L and crossed the finish line!”
An amazing effort from the Burghley first-timers; both Sophia and Hughie have no doubt made Australia proud!
Hughie (Bernardini x Shovhog), who Sophia owns in conjunction with husband Andrew Hill and parents Michelle and Ted Landy, certainly showed the world just what an Aussie Thoroughbred can achieve around one of the world’s toughest cross country courses.
Another Thoroughbred in the field, Artist (Guillotine x Volksraad) – ridden by New Zealand’s Monica Spencer – went clear and recorded exactly 8.4 time faults like Sophia and Hughie. Fifth after the dressage, this combination finished the day on 32.8 and in seventh place.
View the live results from Burghley Horse Trials here.
Draws will be available after the final horse inspection. The first session of jumping begins from 10.30amBST/7.30pm AEST with the top twenty jumping from 2.15pm BST, 11.15pm AEST.
Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo lead the Defender Burghley Horse Trials field. Image by DBHT – Peter Nixon.
Ros Canter & Lordships Graffalo lead the field
At the end of a thrilling day’s sport, Ros and Archie and Michele Saul’s “Walter”, Olympic team gold medallists and European champions, go into Sunday’s finale on a score of 22 with a slender lead of 3.5 penalties — they cannot afford a showjumping rail down — over second-placed New Zealander Tim Price on Vitali.
Harry Meade (GBR) was the hero of the day, achieving three clear cross-country rounds. He is in third place on Annaghmore Valoner and fifth on Cavalier Crystal, his two mares both coming home inside the optimum time. He also produced an assured pathfinding round on Superstition, 15th.
Gaspard Maksud, riding another mare, Zaragoza, is fourth and best of a strong French contingent. The dual European champion Nicolas Touzaint, for whom this was, surprisingly, a first visit to Defender Burghley, is ninth on Absolut Gold HDC.
British riders Gemma Stevens (Chilli Knight), Tom Jackson (Capels Hollow Drift) and Alexander Bragg (Quindiva) are in sixth, eighth and 10th places respectively and first-timer Monica Spencer from New Zealand is seventh on Artist.
Ros Canter was quick to acknowledge her star horse.
“It’s the first time I’ve achieved a competitive time here at Defender Burghley,” she said. “You couldn’t fault Lordships Graffalo. He is an amazing athlete. It’s as if he has walked the course, the way he reads it so quickly.”
Tim Price was happy with the way Vitali finished, with just a handful of time-penalties: “He’s a great athletic jumping horse. We’ve had six months to recover from our disappointment at Badminton [when they lost their lead with showjumps down] and I feel he has mentally improved.”
Riders were respectful of Derek di Grazia’s superbly presented and well-judged cross-country course which achieved an ideal result: 32 clears from the 65 starters.
“I’m very happy with how it went,” said Derek. “There was a lot of talk about the size of the triple brushes at the Holland Cooper Leaf Pit, but you hope the first horse will go out and make it look good and Harry Meade did that. Everyone finished safely and it was a great day for the sport.”
“It was a brilliant track, a proper, proper three-day event course,” was Harry’s verdict. “I had a lovely ride on my first horse, Superstition, a magic ride on the second [Cavalier Crystal] and I took a bit of a risk on the third [Annaghmore Valoner). She is a sensitive mare and I tried to give her a careful ride, but at speed.”
“Harry’s feat of getting two horses around inside the time at Defender Burghley is incredible,” confirmed Diarmuid Byrne of the Irish statistics company, EquiRatings. “It’s only been achieved a handful of times in history and only once before by a British rider [Mary King in 2010].”
Diarmuid added that eight out of the last 10 cross-country leaders have held on to win Defender Burghley.
There were, as ever, form upsets. Ros Canter retired her dressage leader, Izilot DHI, after a run-out at fence 5, Defender Valley. Emily King, lying fourth on Valmy Biats, and Caroline Powell, eighth on her Badminton winner Greenacres Special Cavalier, both retired after run-outs and Oliver Townend, equal fifth on Cooley Rosalent, was eliminated for a fall at the second part of the Rolex Corners (fence 16).
Source: Burghley Horse Trials press release
