Sixteen years since she last won Burghley, Pippa Funnell returned to the top of the podium and had a wire-to-wire victory with MGH Grafton Street, the 11-year-old Irish gelding owned by Jonathan and Jane Clark. The show jumping finale had everyone on the edge of their seats as Funnell had a dramatic rail halfway through the course. Luckily for Funnell, second-placed Piggy French and Vanir Kamira, and third-placed Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class had both added rails to their overnight scores to give her the cushion she needed to win with a rail down – although she ended just .1 ahead of French.
Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus, Jacqueline Mars’ 12-year-old Anglo Arabian gelding (Sazeram x Wake Me Gently), jumped a picture-perfect clear round to bump up from 11th to finish in 9th place.
“I am thrilled with him. He is a younger horse, and he was a proper Burghley horse this weekend, so I am really excited for the future," said Kieffer. "I can kind of tell him from here on out it is a bit easier. I am not sure if we will ever do a track again that was as big and hard as yesterday’s was. Hopefully, he grows up a lot from that and we can keep tackling big courses."
Kieffer and Vermiculus were one of only 10 clear show jumping rounds today. "I thought they did a really good job with the show jumping course considering how tough yesterday was," she said. "They were definitely a bit kinder about the lines and giving more time between the combinations to give the horses time to take a breath and get going again. It wasn’t the hardest, most technical course, but considering what the horses had to deal with yesterday I thought it was a very fair course."
Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan knocked a single rail, but still moved up two spots to finish inside the top-10. A seriously exciting placing for Grald and Annie Eldridge’s 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Master Imp x Ardragh Bash) who were competing at their first Burghley and just send their second five-star competition.
In their best Burghley finish, Andrea Baxter and Indy 500 secured a 12th place ribbon. The 14-year-old Thoroughbred mare (Cromwell x Tens of Thousands) had one rail and 1.2 time penalties to finish on a 62.0.
Liz Halliday-Sharp with Deniro Z, the 11-year-old KWPN gelding (Zapatero VDL x Zonne-Trend) owned by the Deniro Syndicate and Ocala Horse Properties, and Lillian Heard with her own LCC Barnaby, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Guy Cavalier x Lady Tanjour), pulled one rail each to finish in 15th and 18th respectively.
Will Coleman and Tight Lines jumped in the first group this morning and had a lovely clear round to move up into 25th. The Conair Syndicate’s 12-year-old Pur Sang gelding (Turgeon x Merindole) finished on a score of 86.6.
Chris Talley withdrew Unmarked Bills before the final horse inspection so did not go forward to show jumping.
Final results are available here.
Catch up on the previous days coverage with interviews from Samantha Clark here.
Welcome to the Show Me state and to Area IV USEA members! The 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention kicks of tomorrow and features four full days of educational seminars, committee meetings, and social gatherings all with one aim—to bring the eventing community together to continue to improve upon and celebrate the sport that we all love. This year’s Convention takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Marriott St. Louis Grand in downtown St. Louis from Dec. 7-10, and we have rounded up everything you need to know to make the most of your time in the heartland.
To accompany the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, USEA Educational Partner STRIDER has prepared Digital Resources to Maximize Education & Access for the Eventing Community. In keeping with the USEA’s mission to expand the sport of eventing, this webinar outlines ways in which digital tools can be leveraged to increase access and education across equestrian opportunities. As part of STRIDER’s popular Professional Development Webinar Series, this presentation aims to provide a quick overview of best practices and digital tools used across the equestrian industry to boost growth.
Every horse who participated this year in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program has a story—a background that involves a breeder who labored over bloodlines, veterinary care, initial training, and so much more. This year’s highest-placing U.S.-bred horse in the 5-year-old division at the Dutta Corp./USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Arden Augustus, is no exception. His breeder and owner, Anita Antenucci of Arden Farms in Upperville, Virginia, started her program nine years ago and said that the Warmblood gelding was a more emotionally driven breeding for her than others due to his connections with Antenucci’s long-time friend Sharon White.
Have you ever wondered why professional riders love bringing their horses through the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program? USEA Podcast host Nicole Brown chats with two of this year's YEH Champions, Caroline Pamukcu who won the USEA YEH 4-year-old East Coast Championship aboard HSH Afterglow, and Andrea Baxter who won the USEA YEH 5-year-old Championship with Camelot PJ, to discuss this year's Championships and all of the great things that the program has to offer.