Pregnant Ros Canter silenced any critics by pulling off a stunning cross-country clear aboard Lordships Graffalo at Defender Burghley today in the fastest time of the day to hold the overnight lead.
The defending champions finished eight seconds inside the time to give themselves a 6.2-penalty cushion going into tomorrow’s showjumping finale, which means they have one fence in hand.
“When I walk the course I move the minute markers up 10 seconds to give me a buffer, and I felt just a little bit down all the way, which is quite good for me because it makes me try that little bit harder, but I didn’t realise I was that far [inside the time],” said Ros.
“I thought I was kind of pushing it coming to the second last. To be honest, he probably did feel a little bit wearier. I don’t think wearier in his gallop, but doing Defender Valley and then going to the Leaf Pit to then turn around again, it’s a little bit demoralising.
“When I came through Defender Valley for the second time the crowd were insane. He’s got such a fan club. It was so loud, it was amazing.”
2, Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue
Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue picked up 0.8 time-faults to move into second.
“It’s probably the toughest track we’ve jumped at that speed,” said Austin.
“There’s a lot of jumping from the word go, a lot of galloping. It was beautiful ground, but there was a bit of juice in it.
“I’m sure he got me out of trouble a couple of times, as he does. He’s got to be at the top of his game at the moment.”
3, Tim Price and Vitali
Tim Price and Vitali picked up 8.8 time faults to slot into third. Tim said their round “was not without hairy moments”, but explained that this is to be expected when you’re trying to ride economically while at maximum effort.
“He’s not an out and out Thoroughbred horse, so his top speed is maybe 580 metres per minute, and there’s some other ones that do 620, but he’d do that 580 all day long,” added Tim.
“He’s a trier, but it’s just not in his physical make-up to be stretched out galloping faster.”
4, Harry Meade and Annaghmore Valoner
Harry Meade pulled off a masterclass of cross-country riding by piloting all three of his rides home clear, to take fourth, fifth and sixth places.
He was the last rider to leave the startbox, aboard Annaghmore Valoner, a 13-year-old bay mare who is best placed of his trio at this stage.
“I try and stay in the zone. Now I can come up for air,” said Harry after his final round. “It’s the incentive of these big ones that I really enjoy. I sort of had a bad run up to it, every part of my body’s taped and strapped.
“I had a trip to the physio between my second and third horse, but it all came good.”
Annaghmore Valoner pecked on landing at the penultimate cross-country fence, the same one stablemate Et Hop du Matz had done so at the start of the day.
“She jumped beautifully out of a stride, a little peck, but it probably looked more than it was,” said Harry.
5, Harry Meade and Cavalier Crystal
Cavalier Crystal, a 15-year-old by Coroner, is just 0.3 of a penalty adrift of her stablemate in fifth.
“I’ve ridden her since she was five years old, so we know each other really well,” said Harry.
“She’s a horse I never thought would gallop. Right up to two years ago, when I brought her to Burghley for her first five-star, I was still unsure as to whether to run her.
“She used to scamp along with a very quick turnover of footfall, but no length of stride. It’s really been about teaching her to relax, almost switch off, breathe, lengthen her stride.
“She’s a pretty gorgeous cross-country horse; she was amazing at the last two Burghleys, and even better this time.”
6, Harry Meade and Et Hop du Matz
Harry kicked off the day’s proceedings aboard Et Hop du Matz, and his first ride also became his quickest ride, despite two particularly hairy moments — one at the Trout Hatchery and a second at the penultimate fence.
“I was having a peach of a ride, then I was five strides away from the fence into the main bit of water in the Trout Hatchery, someone ran into the middle, and then turned around and ran out,” said Harry.
“It took both my eye and the horse’s eye, and I ended up slightly overriding. He had a very big jump in but he stayed on his feet.”
At the Quilter Cheviot Lamberts Sofa (fence 30), Harry was thrown forward on to the horse’s neck. He said it was rider error.
“I was on a very long stride and didn’t quite get it right.
“He’s a lovely, long striding horse. He always goes a little bit off the bridle. He was quite far off it, and then I thought, hang on, sit up, because I think he’s going to add one [stride], and he did, but we got away with it.”
7, Alice Casburn and Topspin
Alice Casburn and Topspin are aiming to continue their great Burghley record with a fourth-consecutive top-10 finish, and have given themselves a great shot of achieving just that with a clear round today with 4.4 time-faults to add.
“I definitely felt the pressure coming out this morning. If anything goes wrong, it’s certainly not on his part,” said Alice.
“He was cracking. We had a nice natter the whole way around and I actually managed to enjoy myself this time.
“I promised that I would take a minute to soak it in and I did.”
8, Gaspard Maksud and Zaragoza
France’s Gaspard Maksud finished best of the first timers here last year when finishing sixth aboard Zaragoza.
They jumped clear with 5.6 time-faults to add today.
“Last year just give us the experience and the belief that we could do it and be competitive, but it was the blind leading the blind,” said Gaspard.
“Now we’ve come back [and] we needed to prove we can do that again.
“She tries so hard for me. She was getting tired, but they all will. It’s a lot of hills up and down.
“I took more time to set her up, just to make sure we didn’t make a stupid mistake, and she was very good to the end.”
9, Laura Collett and Bling
Laura Collett has moved inside the top 10 with Bling, the pair surviving a sticky moment when the mare spotted a ditch, the B element behind a brush in Defender Valley, and threw her rider forward in the saddle.
“Things take her by surprise. She just needs a split second, but that’s where she was so honest and quick-thinking. As soon as she jumped the ditch, she looked up, saw the corner, and saw her way out,” said Laura.
“What a mare. She’s so tough and gritty.
“I thought she had it in her, but you just never know. I walked this course and thought, are we here a year too early for her experience? She just took it all on, and she’s so honest.”
10, Holly Richardson and Ballyneety Silver Service
Ten-year-old grey Ballyneety Silver Service, the mount of Holly Richardson, is contesting his first five-star.
“As soon as I set off, I thought this is a Burghley horse, let’s go,” said Holly.
“You don’t know what you’ve got until you get out there. I got through that Lion Bridge area and the water again, and I was like, yeah, he’s on it.”
Top 10 after cross-country
- Great Britain’s Ros Canter on Lordships Graffalo, 22.4
- Ireland’s Austin O’Connor on Colorado Blue, 28.6
- New Zealand’s Tim Price on Vitali, 31.9
- Great Britain’s Harry Meade on Annaghmore Valoner, 33
- Great Britain’s Harry Meade on Cavalier Crystal, 33.3
- Great Britain’s Harry Meade on Et Hop du Matz, 35.1
- Great Britain’s Alice Casburn on Topspin, 35.8
- France’s Gaspard Maksud on Zaragoza, 37.4
- Great Britain’s Laura Collett on Bling, 40.2
- Great Britain’s Holly Richardson on Ballyneety Silver Service, 41.6
