William Fox-Pitt And Oslo
Win The World Championships For 6-Year-Old Horses At Le Lion, France
The British rider and his horse did not make any mistakes and after the show jumping test the Selle Français horse Oslo was crowned World Champion for young 6-year-old eventing horses. The bay horse completed the show jumping test perfectly.
Pippa Funnell and Billy Landretti were 2nd with a clear round, while Kai Rüder and Charlie Weld slipped back to the third place as a result of the four jumping faults for one down during the show jumping test.
William Takes 1st and 2nd at Burghley
William took 1st and 2nd place with Tamarillo and Ballincoola at this year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.
Having jumped Ballincoola out of order for one down, William had already won when he entered the ring on Tamarillo, although which horse would take the laurels was still in question.
Tamarillo had three in hand over his stable-mate, and used up one life early on at the second fence, but he only lowered one more pole to take the title.
"The show jumping on Tamarillo was actually very relaxing," said William. "Ballincoola was in top spot, so I went in thinking, 'well, surely he won't have four fences down, and if he does, never mind.' He felt very bright and, as usual, quite distracted.
"But after what he did yesterday I think he's allowed to have two down. He made the cross-country feel easy and I don't think I'll have many horses like that in my last few years eventing."
William's result — his third win in four years here — means he equals Mark Todd and Ginny Elliot's record of five Burghley wins, and he is the third person to manage a one-two at the event, following in the footsteps of Mark Todd (1987) and Blyth Tait (1998).
This will be the last time that William rides Ballincoola in a three-day event before the horse goes to be ridden in Young Riders' competitions by Fergus Payne.
Cross Country
Tam heads the field after a brilliant cross country round inside the time - he has 2 fences in hand and Max is 3rd after a brilliant round too.
Despite the worst of the day’s weather, having to endure heavy rain during their round, the pair recorded the fastest time of the day coming home 14 seconds inside the time to gain a commanding lead.
“Once you get going you don’t necessarily notice the rain and I did remember that Zara (Phillips) won the European title at Blenheim in a deluge so I just thought go for it,” said William who was riding the sometimes unpredictable16-year-old at his first Burghley. “I had no idea whether he would go or get bogged down but as Burghley is a busy course he had no time to do anything other than concentrate on the job. In the end he proved incredible and he nipped round and was really fun to ride,” said William who complimented the Burghley ground staff. “I was able to ride on the edge of the course in places where the going was better but in fact considering all the rain the ground held up remarkably well and is a credit to the staff and all they do throughout the year.”
Dressage
The dressage ended with Tam in 3rd place. Tam seemed unaffected by the wet, and, keeping his trademark bounce under control, scored in the 30s for the first time ever at a four-star.
“I'm delighted with him,” said William. “It's quite muddy in there, so far from a level playing field with the bogs and ruts. But he tried hard and I could even 'go for it' a bit. He was still cheeky from time to time, but that's Tamarillo.”
