Christopher Burton stands above second placed Andrew Nicholson and third placed Kitty King
When Christopher Burton is in the lead at a competition he doesn’t give that lead away easily. At Hartpury CCI3* he reacted in determined fashion to hang onto his lead riding Kinnordy Rivaldo. Despite picking up 1.6 time penalites from cross country, a clear round show jumping and a top placed dressage test ensured that Chris was the clear winner on a score of 38.9, ahead of Andrew Nicholson riding Avebury who finished on 41.5.
Kinnordy Rivaldo heads through the water
Andrew was the only rider in the field of 94 who managed to make the time in the cross country, a feat he managed on both Avebury and Mr Cruise Control. 62 riders went clear around Eric Winter’s course while several riders managed to pick up the odd run off here and there. One of those was Tim Boland and GV Billy Elliot who had to add 20 to his third-placed dressage score of 40.6, this added together with some time penalties saw Tim finish half-way down the leader board.
Megan Jones and Kirby Park Allofasudden added no jumping penalties to her dressage score but ten time penalties from cross country saw them finish just outside the top twenty. As neither Megan’s or Tim’s horses have been out for a while it would seem sensible not to push for time, especially as Burghley is the main aim for these horses.
Sam Griffiths and Real Dancer, who was actually bred to be a dressage horse, finished just ahead of Mark Todd (NZB Grass Valley) in 33rd place after picking up 17.6 time penalties. The other Australian in the field, Bill Levett, went clear on both of his rides (Shannondale Titan and Improvise) but time penalties kept him out of the top end of the leader board.
A good performance = a happy owner
We caught up with Tina Stafford, owner of Kinnordy Rivaldo, who had to rely on text messages to find out how her horse was going. “It was a very late night,” admitted Tina, who lives in the Southern Highlands of NSW. “Chris was thrilled with his dressage test on Ken. In fact, I think he was thrilled with him altogether this weekend – he didn’t really put a foot wrong. I knew what time he was going cross country so I was sitting there waiting and hoping for a text message but I actually got the news on how things had gone from photographer Libby Law who posted it on Facebook. I sent a message to Libby to thank her for being the first one to tell me the news and then a little while later I got a text message from Chris. Being an owner in one country with your horse and rider in another certainly throws up challenges.”
The aim for Kinnordy Rivaldo will be to finish with a CCI3* at the end of the season, but because of the cancellation of so many events, it has made qualification quite difficult. “This is only Ken’s second 3*,” said Tina, “and I think he has out been out about five times so far this season, because of the lack of events, so to have had this result is even more pleasing.”
In the CIC2* Sammi McLeod is lying fourth after going clear cross country riding Winnetou M. The pair will compete in the show jumping phase later today.
Photos: Libby Law Photography
