Burgham International Horse Trials 2024 – order or view XC Videos here
Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent strolled to victory in the Holme Dodsworth Metals CCI4*-S at Burgham International Horse Trials, supported by Project Pony - Oliver’s seventh win in Burgham’s feature class in the past decade.
Oliver added four faults for one showjump down to his leading dressage score of 19.8 on Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s 10-year-old grey mare, but still topped the 104-strong class going into cross-country. The pair, who won the Kentucky CCI5* in May, made light work of David Evans’s cross-country course and galloped home clear and inside the time allowed to hold off second-placed Wills Oakden (Keep It Cooley) by 3.1 penalties.
Shropshire-based Oliver, 41, was part of Britain’s Olympic gold medal-winning team at Tokyo 2021. He plans to take the Valent-sired Cooley Rosalent to Defender Burghley Horse Trials next, and will hope to notch up his third victory at the Lincolnshire CCI5*.
He said: “‘Rosie’ is probably one of the best horses I’ve had in all three phases and she makes it all feel very easy. The mistake in the showjumping was my mistake, not hers, but she jumped very well and it is all well within her comfort zone.
“You don’t ever feel like you’re going really quick on her across country; she covers the ground very nicely, and if you need to shorten, her stride still remains very quick, which is what makes her fast. And she’s not strong at all - she’s as easy a horse as I’ve had to ride across country.
“It’s lovely up here at Burgham; the team do a great job and they make everything as comfortable as possible for the riders, the horses and the owners. The ground is always safe here and we love using it for a preparation run for Burghley.”
Wills, who is based in Perthshire, was delighted with Geoff and Elspeth Adam’s nine-year-old Ramiro B gelding, who added nothing to his dressage mark of 26.9.
He said: “I’m so pleased for Geoff and Elspeth Adam. They bought ‘Michael’ coming into this season and they have been fantastic people to work for. They’ve been very patient and understanding It’s his first season at CCI4* and we think a lot of him, and haven’t wanted to rush him. They’ve given me space, they’ve given me time and they’ve given me support. It’s been brilliant, and it’s fantastic to reward them with days like this, and hopefully there are many more to come.
“He’s just a super horse to work with. He always wants to give you his best, he always wants to learn, and he’s a horse you can be seriously competitive on. We have a real emotional connection with him, so I hope he keeps improving and takes us to where we want to get to.”
In third place for the second year running were Emily King and Valmy Biats. Emily finished on her dressage score of 27.6 on her own, Phillipe Brivois and the Valmy Biats Syndicate’s French-bred 15-year-old.
