The superlative quality of the competition at Burgham International
Horse Trials 2020 was confirmed when yesterday’s dressage record of
21.2, set by Izzy Taylor and Monkeying Around, was smashed – twice.
The reigning World Champions, Ros Canter and Allstar B, achieved a stunning mark of 19.7 and hold the lead in CCI4*-S section M, and Laura Collett and London 52 are hard on their heels with a score of 20.3.
Ros, who owns Allstar B with Caroline Moore, said: “I’m really happy with him. We haven’t done a lot since the World Equestrian Games [in 2018, where they won team and individual gold], so it’s quite a long time now. I was probably more nervous than him – I feel the pressure on Albie [Allstar B], but he was really good.
“I’m looking forward to giving the cross-country a good go tomorrow. I think it’s a great course – big and bold.”
Until this week, Burgham’s dressage record was 22.4, set by Gemma Tattersall (Chico Bella P) in 2015.
World number one Oliver Townend remains in the top spot in CCI4*-S section L on his 2017 Burghley winner Ballaghmor Class, owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan. The pair scored 21.4, while Piggy March is just behind in second with 23.1 on Brookfield Quality.
Oliver has already added a brace of Burgham wins to his already-impressive record – he won both CCI3*-S section J and CCI3*-S section K on Sally-Anne Egginton’s Cillnabradden Evo and Paul Ridgeon’s Miss Cooley. Both horses finished on their dressage scores of 26.7 and 26.1 respectively.
Laura Collett remains at the top of CCI2*-L after cross-country, having added nothing to her dressage score of 24 penalties on Moonlight Charmer, owned by Charlotte Heber-Percy and Teresa Stopford-Sackville.
Burgham – the first international horse trials of the 2020 British eventing season – has received an exceptionally large number of entries of a particularly high quality, and action continues on Saturday (22 August). Sadly, Burgham International Horse Trials is not open to spectators this year, but fans don’t have to miss out; on Saturday 22 August and Sunday 23 August the cross-country will be shown live via Horse & Country TV’s streaming service H&C+.
Visit https://handc.tv/stream-burgham to subscribe.
> Download the official event programme
> View times and full results from the competition so far
> Walk the Cross Country Courses on Cross Country App
Keep up to date with all the action through our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.