Burghley Horse Trials Get Underway

02 September 2010

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The 2010 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials are now underway. After the first horse inspection 77 combinations are now in contention for the Land Rover perpetual challenge trophy and the £50,000 first prize.

Nine riders have two horses entered including this year’s British team members William Fox-Pitt and Mary King. William will be vying for his sixth Burghley victory - a record number of wins by one rider, if he succeeds. As last year he rides Macchiato (no.24) the 2008 winner of Luhmuhlen and the German-bred Seacookie (no.110) with who he was seventh last year.

It is fourteen years since Mary won Burghley and this year she has a strong hand in the experienced Apache Sauce - 12th last year and her homebred mare Kings Temptress who also has the benefit of competing here last year to finish in 18th. New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, another former winner on two occasions, has the Spanish-bred Armada and the British-bred grey Avebury.

Both Dan Jocelyn (NZL), Special Advocate and Special Attorney; and Louise Skelton (GBR), A Bit of a Barney and Partly Pickled, are competing full brothers.

While they both have tried before as yet they and no other rider has managed to achieve the feat of completing on full-brothers in the same year.

British team members Nicola Wilson and Opposition Buzz will be the ‘guinea pigs’ for the dressage test allowing the ground jury to get their eye in before the first competitive combination; Angus Smales (GBR) and Cornsay Grouse (no.2) at 09.30. Angus from nearby Rutland is also one of the most local riders.

In this video we hear from competitors William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Emily Llewellyn