William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk through the water
Norfolk is famous for many things. It is not just the home of royalty (and it there were rumours that a certain young royal who lives locally and is a friend of the Fox-Pitt family dropped into this event over the weekend) and celebrities such as Stephen Fry but is becoming known as one of the hot spots of British eventing
Burnham Market International in Norfolk goes from strength to strength each year and is fast becoming the ‘must go to’ event for top riders early in the season. It isn’t really surprising that it’s a popular venue for riders of all levels as it is run by one of the most experienced men in the sport of eventing today, Alec Lochore and his team at Musketeer Events.
Alec’s great wealth of experience as a rider, international course designer and Technical Delegate ensures a successful event and this was maybe why William Fox-Pitt chose the Barefoot Estates Burnham Market International as the venue for his return to competition (or maybe because Kate promised to drop by). It was a relief for William to come home safely after two clear but steady rides around the cross country on his ‘two old pros’ Cool Mountain and Parklane Hawk
“They are both old pros and literally carried me round – I only had to hold on,” he claimed on Saturday “It's a great relief to finish in one piece and feeling good.”
William finished way down the leader board of the Open Intermediate Section M in 22nd and 24th place but, to judge from the reaction from people both at the event and around the world on social media, he was a huge winner! An enthusiastic and spontaneous round of applause from spectators after his first show jumping round was a fond acknowledgement of how popular this gentleman of the sport is and how pleased people are to see him back.
However it was New Zealand's Tim Price who won the final applause for this class on Saturday, winning on his new mount OBOS Cooley, previously campaigned by the pregnant Piggy French, ahead of Oliver Townend in second and third places on Cillnabradden Evo and Cooley SRS.
We've got some great cross country videos coming up soon but in the meantime, here's a little snippet of Tim thanks to Manners Media
Both Oliver’s name and the Cooley name reappeared on Sunday with Oliver not only winning the headline CIC3* class with Angela Hislop's Cooley Master Class but also taking the runner up spot with Andrew Cawthray's Note Worthy. In our interview with Oliver earlier this year he told us “My main aims for this year are to do well at the proper CCI3* events. I’ve got really good horses coming through at that level such as Cooley SRS, Cooley Master Class and Cillnabradden Evo” and it seems it he is already fulfilling that aim.
Cooley Master Class’ layoff from competition in 2015 has certainly not harmed him and although Oliver says that Cooley Master Class is 'dead lazy to train' he obviously is not lazy in competition! They started with a dressage score of 37.4 (only one other rider, Australia’s Chris Burton on his cracking black horse Santano II, finished on a dressage score in the 30’s but Chris opted for 'a slow educational round' on this very talented young horse at his first 3* start) then show jumped clear and added only 0.8 time penalties on cross country.
His stable mate, Note Worthy, was faster on cross country and was in fact the only horse to make the time to finish on his dressage score of 46.2, eight penalties behind his winning friend. Our Australian readers may be interested that Note Worthy competed in Australia for a while with Tim Boland, coming second in the CCI2* at Melbourne 3 Day Event in 2013 under the name of Lord Limmerick. Tim purchased him from Oliver and, when he felt that the partnership just wasn’t gelling, Oliver took him back and decided to keep him.
In third place in the CIC3* was Pippa Funnell’s talented 10 year old Sandman 7 who has just returned from a stint of show jumping in Europe and is definitely another one to watch this year.
Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class Photo: Countryside-Photos.co.uk
By winning the CIC3* Oliver not only hung onto title that has rarely been wrested from his grasp in recent years (he won in 2007 and 2009 on his future Badminton winner Flint Curtis; in 2008 on Coup de Coeur; in 2010 with Ashdale Cruise Master; Pepper Anne triumphed in 2012; he won twice in 2014 when two sections were held, riding Black Tie and Armada; and in 2015 it was Mr Hiho at the top of the leader board with Armada 0.2 of a penalty behind in second place) but he also took out the first leg of the new Shearwater Insurance Tri-Star Grand Slam.
Earlier in the day Australia's Sammi Birch (nee McLeod) and The Court Jester claimed the CIC2*, keeping Sweden's Ludwig Svennerstal and Master Ping back in the runner up spot with Germany's Pia Munker, the dressage leader on Louis M, in third. Sammi had her hands full during the event with baby Charlie as well as riding but this win on Court Jester, competed with great success by Tim Price while Sammi was pregnant, shows she is well and truly back into eventing after having her baby. Both The Court Jester and Master Ping are Irish Sport Horses, as are Oliver’s Cooley Master Class and Note Worthy, making it a top two for Irish breeding for both the CIC2* and CIC3*
Advanced riders wrapped up the event, with a win for Bettina Hoy riding Designer 10 ahead of Tim Price in second and fourth, his rides separated by Izzy Taylor who is standing in for Piggy French on Westwood Mariner
The next leg of the Tri-Star Grand Slam will take place Belton Park International from 15th – 17th April and we will be there to cover the event with our cross country video cameras as well as daily editorial, photos and interviews direct from Lincolshire
To order or view cross country videos from the Barefoot Estates Burnham Market International click on the link below or Search for your horse/rider name in the box at the bottom of this page
