New Zealand’s Tim Price has won the 2018 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with Ringwood Sky Boy.
Incredible year
The pair produced one of eight clear showjumping rounds to finish on 27.3, ahead of last year’s winners Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class on 31.9. Fellow Kiwi Andrew Nicholson was third with Swallow Springs on 32.1.
This has been an incredible year for Tim and his wife Jonelle. They now hold the Burghley, Luhmuhlen and Badminton titles, after Jonelle won the two spring events, and have both been selected for the World Equestrian Games this month.
‘Super proud’
“What a super year,” said Tim. “Sky Boy deserves a good day – so often we nail two out of the three phases, so to finally pull them all together in a major competition is fantastic. This win means everything and I’m super proud of my horse.”
Oliver had one down in the final phase with Ballaghmor Class, but was still delighted with the horse’s performance.
“It’s all about consistency,” he said. “He’s still only 11 and I’ve been telling people for years how good he is. He’s proved that again today. For me, he turned into a professional this week and dug deep whereas last year he won out of naivety.”
‘Pure class’
Andrew Nicholson’s clear round on the 10-year-old Swallow Springs moved them up the leader board from fifth after the cross-country. They were the only pair in the field to complete on their dressage score – an amazing achievement, as this was the horse’s four-start debut.
“I’m very, very pleased with him,” said Andrew. “He got distracted by the crowds in the showjumping at Blenheim last year where he had three down, and felt a bit babyish at Bramham in the summer, but he was pure class here.”
Superb performance
British riders filled the next five places. Sarah Bullimore was fourth with Reve Du Rouet after jumping clear; Piggy French and Vanir Kamira dropped from third overnight to fifth when the mare lowered the gate; while Harry Meade and Away Cruising dropped from fourth to sixth after they rolled a pole.
Local rider Richard Jones posted his best result to date with Alfies Clover in seventh. The pair produced two superb performances in the jumping, to rise from 33rd after the dressage.
Horse & Country takes you behind the scenes at Burghley in Rudall’s Round-Up on Monday 10 September at 8.30pm. We are also showing highlights of this world-class event on Tuesday 18 September at 8pm.
Find us on Sky 184, Virgin TV 298, Horse & Country TV, Amazon Video and Roku.
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