After consistently finishing in the money at Hambro Sport Horses Burgham International Horse Trials all weekend, Sarah Bullimore pulled a victory out of the bag on the final day by winning the Holme Dodsworth Metals CCI2*-S on Corimiro.

The six-year-old, owned by Sarah’s husband Brett, Bruce Saint and Christopher and Susan Gillespie, was homebred by Sarah and Brett out of Sarah’s European Championships ride Lilly Corinne and sired by Amiro Z.

Sarah and Corimiro led the dressage with a score of 22.2 and added nothing to that in the jumping phases.

She said: “I’m very excited about his future – he’s lovely and turns heads wherever he goes, because he’s got it all. He’s very similar to his brother [Sarah’s individual bronze medallist at the 2021 European Championships, Corouet], but just a little easier! Like all of ‘Lilly’’s offspring, he’s super-intelligent. This win is his just desserts – I led the dressage on him at Rockingham and then jumped the wrong showjump!”

Sarah hopes to take him to the World Young Horse Championships at Le Lion d’Angers, France, in October.
Oliver Townend – winner of section H of the Hambro Sport Horses CCI4*-S on Saturday – was second in the CCI2*-S with Karyn Shuter’s Dolmen Debenture, completing on his dressage mark of 26.4. Third was Vittoria Panizzon (Bowstraight Eliza, 27.6).

Oliver narrowly missed out on the valuable bonus offered by the AW Jenkinson-sponsored Northumberland Challenge (which unites the CCI2*-S classes at Belsay Horse Trials, Alnwick Ford Horse Trials and Burgham) by finishing fifth on En Taro Des Vernier. The pair had won at Belsay and finished second at Alnwick Ford; if they had taken third place or higher, Oliver would have driven home to Shropshire with a cheque for £10,000.

It has been a superb five days of equestrian sport at Hambro Sport Horses Burgham. All three of Britain’s gold medal-winning horses and riders from the Tokyo Olympics – Oliver Townend (Ballaghmor Class), Laura Collett (London 52) and Tom McEwen (Toledo De Kerser) were competing, alongside many other top horses of the present and the future.

Event director Craig Anderson said: “It’s been another highly successful Hambro Sport Horses Burgham, and we are so grateful to all our sponsors, our committee and amazing team of volunteers for their support and hard work. We couldn’t stage an event which is consistently one of the most popular in the UK with riders from Olympians to those competing at the grassroots of the sport without their help.”

Burgham will return in 2023 from 27-30 July.

full results here