On their way to winning an Olympic team bronze medal at Rio - Chris and Santano II
Since its inception in 1960, the Australian of the Year Award has provided a focal point for the Australia Day celebrations on 26th January and this year we decided to have our own Australian Eventing Rider of the Year Award
It was tough to have to pick from some great Australian eventing achievements in 2016.
Special mention has to go to Sam Griffiths, the highest placed Australian rider at the Rio Olympic Games who just missed out on an individual medal but won bronze along with his team mates, Shane Rose who gave Michael Jung a run for his money on home turf in Aachen and 24 year old Hazel Shannon who won the CCI4* at the Australian International 3 Day Event.
But the man who stood out a mile in 2016 and made the world take notice was Chris Burton
Finishing the year in third place on the FEI World Eventing Rankings, Chris had a year to remember in 2016. He started with a win at Belton International in the CIC3* on board Sue Lawson, Carolyn Townsend and his own elegant 11-year-old Nobilis 18, an indication of what was to come later in the year from this horse although it didn’t quite go their way at Badminton.
In May one of his young horses stepped up to become of the superstars of the stable when Santano II won at Saumur in his first CCI3* start. Later in the year the nine year old horse was selected as part of the Australian team for Rio and put in a stunning performance for fifth place individually and a team bronze medal, coming oh so close to team gold.
Almost immediately after Rio came the Land Rover Burghley Trials and it was here that Chris shone, becoming the first Australian rider in ten years to take the coveted title. A top class display of dressage on Nobilis 18 put them into the lead on a score of 30.2, making the top six of the best ever tests at four star level, and they followed it up with a cracking cross country. Such was their lead in the first two phases that he still lifted the Land Rover Burghley title despite lowering four fences in the final showjumping phase.
Both Burghley and Canberra have their tributes to honour each year’s winner. In 2006 Prime Minister John Howard officially opened the Australian of the Year Walk, a tribute to the award winners on the south shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra featuring plaques for each year’s winners and you can experience the same as you stroll down the leafy Winners’ Avenue in Burghley Park
“On Wednesday morning I walked along Winners’ Avenue looking at all the plaques with the names of all the old boys on them” said Chris after winning Burghley “I thought then how good it would be to add my name to the line”
This is how he did it ...........
