Burghley 2006

Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia enjoy their victory gallop at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

The Land Rover sponsored Burghley Horse Trials has long been the highlight of my year and this year’s competition was no exception. Against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful houses in the country, Burghley’s fences are always wonderfully presented with a lot of imagination going into their construction. The undulations of the terraine give it added interest and Captain Mark Phillips, as Course Designer, makes the most of this. Plus the shopping ….don’t get me started on the shopping! Suffice to say, when everything was packed in the car there was very little room for pilot and passenger!

Germany's Bettina Hoy gallops through the arena on Peaceful Warrior. Two days previously she had wowed the crowd in the dressage but two minutes later her chances of Burghley glory were going to come a very wet end!

Still, back to the competition. Intense pressure was being heaped on the shoulders of Australian Andrew Hoy who was in line to replicate Pippa Funnell’s Rolex Grand Slam win of 2003. By doing so, he would add $250,000 to the Burghley’s own first prize of £45,000, and Andrew is one person who is used to riding under pressure. He had two superb rides – Moonfleet, winner of Burghley in 2004 and Mr Pracatan, a true warrior for Andrew and a horse long overdue a major win.

Australia has had a huge depth of good riders for many years and this year had a particularly strong entry, partly due to the fact that the Equestrian World Games, held in Aachen, Germany in August meant that several of their “home grown” riders were in Europe at the right time of year.

After two days of dressage, the Australians totally dominated the competition, with an awe-inspiring performance by Andrew and Moonfleet topping the bill with a mark of 31.7, probably the best test and marks ever seen at Burghley. Lucinda Fredericks also had a dream ride on the diminutive Headley Britannia, prompting judge Jennie Lorriston-Clarke to remark, “I couldn’t  believe that the little pony I had seen at the trot-up the day before could transform into such a dressage superstar!”.

Andrew Hoy’s German wife Bettina, a member of the Gold medal winning team in Aachen, lay in third place on the unusually marked Peaceful Warrior and Lucinda’s husband Clayton was fourth on his British Open Champion, Nullarbor. American Bonnie Mosser riding Jenga broke the Aussie stranglehold while Mr Pracatan reinforced Andrew’s hand in sixth place.