United States Eventing Association

Twenty-eight-year-old Ruth from Cumbria is adamant that she will give the 12-year-old a positive ride. “The conditions after the rain we have had will influence the time but you still have to go out there and attack the course otherwise you are not going to get far,” said Ruth of the Mark Phillips designed cross-country course.

Lucy, who with Shaabrak was second at Badminton this year, echoed Ruth’s sentiments. “It is a course that will require an intelligent approach and I will be glad to get fence seven (The Land Rover Discovery Valley) out of the way but otherwise it is a good, bold course.”

Despite the rain that fell throughout the afternoon there were still good tests towards the end of the day. 2004 Badminton winner Tamarillo, owned by the Hon. Mrs. Mary Guinness, performed obligingly for William Fox-Pitt to claim his best four-star dressage mark and move up into third place while William enhanced his chances of a fifth Burghley title to equal the record currently held by Ginny Elliott and Mark Todd.

“I might have to rethink the striding—four strides may become five for example and that’s where riders will have to become reactive,” said William who, with Ballincoola in ninth place, has consolidated his chances of maintaining his lead on the FEI HSBC Classics leader board. His nearest rival in the FEI HSBC Classics series, second placed Phillip Dutton, is currently in 15th place with Acorn Hill Farm’s Woodburn.

There has been one withdrawal during the day. Richard Jones (GBR) and Fox On The Run (73) have pulled out of the competition leaving seventy to go forward to the cross-country tomorrow. The first horse, Bit of a Barney and his owner/rider Louise Skelton will leave the start box at 11.00 a.m.

The weather today was just awful, relentless rain and some wind and all riders had a real job keeping their mounts focused! More rain is forecast for Saturday and Sunday and the going now is quite soft leaving one to wonder if there will be some withdrawals tomorrow. One has to wonder how the footing will hold up. I can see a couple of horses going around and having little effect, but with 70 I can only imagine the potential damage to the turf and particularly the takeoffs and landings, especially at skinny or narrow fences where there is no opportunity to take a different line. Knowing the excellence of the organization at Burghley and, under the leadership of Mark Phillips, the fence crew will be more than prepared with heaps of stone dust and other materials to ensure the absolute safety of every single horse and rider. Still there is no doubt the riders will have to be at the top of their game, which at the four-star level is a must anyway.

Stay tuned for a day of cross-country riding that promises lots of excitement!

Full results: http://www.bdwp.co.uk/bur/08/

The HSBC FEI CLASSICS is a new FEI series linking the five 4-Star Eventing competitions currently on the international calendar.

STANDINGS AFTER THREE LEGS OF THE HSBC FEI CLASSICS (KENTUCKY, BADMINTON & LUHMUHLEN): 1. William Fox Pitt (GBR) – 25 points (Differential Score – 51.00); 2. Phillip Dutton (USA) – 15 points (DS – 41.70); 3. Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) – 15 points (DS – 48.70); 4. Rebecca Holder (USA) – 12 points (DS – 47.30); 5. Lucy Wiegersma (GBR) – 12 points (DS – 49.80); 6. Frank Ostholt (GER) – 12 points (DS – 51.40); 7. Stuart Tinney (AUS) – 10 points (DS – 52.20); 8. Missy Ransehousen (USA) – 10 points (DS – 57.30); 9. Caroline Powell (NZL) – 8 points (DS – 52.80); 10.Stephen Bradley (USA) – 8 points (DS – 57.50).

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