Mixed fortunes for early Burghley cross-country runners as dressage leader drops out of contention

Dressage leaders Ros Canter and Izilot DHI are out of the running after pulling up early on the Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course, but Harry Meade put in a super pathfinding round on Superstition.

The inexperienced 11-year-old Izilot DHI, owned by Alex Moody and his rider, was the second horse out of the start box this morning. All went well over the early fences, but he jumped big and drifted right over the ditch at Defender Valley (fence 5abc) and never locked onto the angled hedge coming out, incurring 20 penalties. Ros then retired.

Meanwhile pathfinder Harry Meade had a great round over Derek di Grazia’s Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course with his own and Mandy Gray’s Superstition. He took all the direct routes and looked to keep a smooth rhythm all the way round the track, finishing outside the 11min 16sec optimum time, for 10.8 time-faults.

This pair answered the question that many riders have asked this week – whether the two huge arrowhead skinnies at the Holland Cooper Leaf Pit (fence 7abcde) are jumpable – by taking on the direct route here successfully, though Harry did take out the red flag with his right knee.

“He’s a game little horse and loved every minute of it,” said Harry. “He’s a bit ring rusty – I don’t compete him often – and I thought he was coming here off a slightly short fitness programme, so I was conservative in how I set out to make sure he had enough in the tank coming home.”

Pippa Funnell showed brilliant stickability after MCS Maverick flew off a long stride over the final half-moon brush out of the Trout Hatchery complex (11abc). She was thrown forward and lost both stirrups, having to retrieve one of them from behind her over the back of the saddle as she cantered away.

She continued, but at the Rolex Corners (fence 16abc), her line and striding to the second corner didn’t quite work out and she had 20 penalties, then retired.

Matt Heath followed Pippa and had 20 penalties in the same place as Ros Canter with Golden Recipe. He carried on, taking the long route at the Leaf Pit, but then retired on the return trip through Defender Valley (fence 8ab).

Ireland’s Susie Berry, fourth out, was the second finisher, jumping clear with 26 time-faults on five-star first-timer Irene Leva.

“I’ve never sat on anything like her cross-country, which is why we put up with the dressage,” said Susie, who was marking her first Burghley cross-country completion.

Susie took the long route at the final element of the Defender Dairy Mound (fence 23abc), after a struggle to turn before the perimeter fence, a moment that had shades of when she nearly jumped into the crowd at Kentucky Three-Day Event earlier in the year.

“If anything, she was too brave, too scopey – I was struggling to get the collection and that’s why I had to go long. She was clever enough to think going into the crowd was stupid, thankfully,” she said.

Susie also added a stride at the Leaf Pit skinnies after finding a deep take-off spot at the first arrowhead.

“I wouldn’t want to do that again on six strides, but she’s just so straight, so good in front, so scopey – she has everything to be a top cross-country horse,” said the Irish rider.

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