Did you know?
> Andrew Nicholson has completed Burghley Horse Trials a record 32 times, meaning that he has jumped more than 1,500 cross-country fences at the event!
Three-day thrills
Just a week after the World Equestrian Games, it was back to Britain for our riders to take part in the Burghley Horse Trials. Always a favourite on the eventing calendar as enthusiasts flock in their droves to this international CCI****, the competition is held in the grounds of Elizabethan Burghley House.
It’s here you’ll see the good and the great from across the globe competing for the top prize - the Land Rover Burghley title. And it’s an event where the Antipodeans seem to court success - no more so than New Zealander Andrew Nicholson (pictured below), who won it for the third consecutive time, this year on Avebury. He took home a whopping £62,000 for all his hard work - a far cry from the £150 first prize at the event’s inauguration in 1961.
In second place was Jonathan (Jock) Paget riding Clifton Promise, and Australia’s Sam Griffiths and Happy Times finished third, in front of a fourth-placed William Fox-Pitt - the best placed Brit - on Bay My Hero.
Did you know?
> More than 100 acres and 14,000 miles of rope is used to designate the car parks at Burghley.
> 22,277 square metres of tentage is used to create structures such as the Main Arena Grandstand and Tradestands - that's enough to cover 919 tennis courts.
> In 1961, there were just 66 tradestands at the event. Today, there are more than 600.
> The first Burghley Horse Trials in 1961 attracted 12,000 visitors. In 2013, the number was up to 160,000 over the four days.
> The highest number of cross-country penalties ever recorded was 579.
> 1.5 tonnes of ice is used on Saturday by the competition department alone, not including that used by the catering outlets, members and hospitality.
> 26 gallons of Pimms are drunk and 6,386 restaurant lunches served.
> Andrew Nicholson has completed Burghley Horse Trials a record 32 times, meaning that he has jumped more than 1,500 cross-country fences at the event!
Three-day thrills
Just a week after the World Equestrian Games, it was back to Britain for our riders to take part in the Burghley Horse Trials. Always a favourite on the eventing calendar as enthusiasts flock in their droves to this international CCI****, the competition is held in the grounds of Elizabethan Burghley House.
It’s here you’ll see the good and the great from across the globe competing for the top prize - the Land Rover Burghley title. And it’s an event where the Antipodeans seem to court success - no more so than New Zealander Andrew Nicholson (pictured below), who won it for the third consecutive time, this year on Avebury. He took home a whopping £62,000 for all his hard work - a far cry from the £150 first prize at the event’s inauguration in 1961.
In second place was Jonathan (Jock) Paget riding Clifton Promise, and Australia’s Sam Griffiths and Happy Times finished third, in front of a fourth-placed William Fox-Pitt - the best placed Brit - on Bay My Hero.
Did you know?
> More than 100 acres and 14,000 miles of rope is used to designate the car parks at Burghley.
> 22,277 square metres of tentage is used to create structures such as the Main Arena Grandstand and Tradestands - that's enough to cover 919 tennis courts.
> In 1961, there were just 66 tradestands at the event. Today, there are more than 600.
> The first Burghley Horse Trials in 1961 attracted 12,000 visitors. In 2013, the number was up to 160,000 over the four days.
> The highest number of cross-country penalties ever recorded was 579.
> 1.5 tonnes of ice is used on Saturday by the competition department alone, not including that used by the catering outlets, members and hospitality.
> 26 gallons of Pimms are drunk and 6,386 restaurant lunches served.
Snow jokeWhile Britain basked in glorious September sunshine, temperatures dipped unseasonably in Calgary, Canada, with unexpected snow threatening to disrupt the event. “We should not be shovelling snow in September,” shuddered competitions manager Jon Garner, who put on a pair of skis and skied his way down the big bank at one end of the International Ring.
However, this didn’t take the heat out of a sizzling showjumping competition that saw the honours go to legendary Canadian showjumper, Ian Millar. He won the CP International Grand Prix, presented by Rolex, at the Spruce
Meadows Masters. Ian, who’s 67, is one of Canada’s most successful showjumpers and has represented his country at 10 Olympic Games. He is ranked third on the all-time money won list at Spruce Meadows behind Canadian rider Eric Lamaze and American Beezie Madden, with career earnings totalling more than Can $3.5 million (£1.98 million).
Says Ian of his Can $500,000 (£276,000) winning pot: “The afternoon just seems to fly by. It’s like a blur, it happens so fast, the tension is incredible. To me, it is the most prestigious Grand Prix in the world. It’s a heck of a payday. It’s just a thrill. It is beyond words.” A fitting finale to an awesome autumn of the coolest competition. . .
Hot to trot
Set in the grounds of Sir Winston Churchill’s birthplace, Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials hosted two hotly contested classes - a CIC*** class for eight and nine-year-old horses and the CCI*** which is more demanding. Not forgetting the increasingly stylish trot-up, when the competitors dress in their finest to present their horse for the vet inspection.
While the Antipodeans cleaned up in the CIC*** (first, Jonelle Price on Faerie Dianimo; second, Andrew Nicholson on Cillnabradden EVO; and third, Paul Tapner on Indian Mill), it was the Brits who launched a broadside in the CCI***. They came up trumps with a one, two and three - respectively Francis Whittington riding Easy Target, William Fox-Pitt on Freddie Mac and Jodie Amos with Wise Crack. It had been a nail-biting finish and William Fox-Pitt had no room for error in the showjumping. He needed to go clear, but hit the first part of the treble to put him on a final score just 3.2 penalty points behind winner Francis, for whom this was his first CCI*** title.