This summer has flown by quicker than a Chris Burton cross country round, and somehow it’s Burghley time already. HOW is that possible.
I love Burghley, and I’m really excited to head down for cross country day on Saturday. I’ve got my shopping list sorted (sorry in advance, bank balance) and I can’t wait to follow some of my favourite Eventers round the course – the penultimate one to be designed by Captain Mark Phillips.
As per usual, I’ve been browsing the entry list to get a head start on who I’ll be looking out for on the day. You might remember I did this previously for Badminton, where I picked out some of my favourites including Tim and Jonelle Price, Gemma Tattersall and Ben Hobday. So this time, I’ve thrown a few extra names into the mix:
Piggy French – Vanir Kamira
I’ll admit I was a bit late to the Piggy party – clearly I’ve been living under a rock – but she shot to the top of my radar earlier this year when she won Badminton with Vanir Kamira, and then when I followed her around at Rockingham where she had not one, not two, but FIVE winners. She’s also just been part of the silver medal-winning Team GB squad in Luhmuhlen with Quarrycrest Echo. The woman is super human!
So 2019 has been an epic year for her (she also hosted a party to celebrate her Badminton win which ended up being her surprise wedding!), and she thoroughly deserves it. But can her season become even more memorable with the Burghley title? Piggy and Vanir Kamira were fifth here last year, and second the year before. I really, really wouldn’t be surprised if this was Piggy’s year to win.
Nicky Hill – MGH Bingo Boy
Nicky might not be a household name just yet, but she’s well on her way to being one. I first saw her featured in Horse and Hound as one of the Badminton first-timers bloggers, and I loved her story because she reminded me of someone… me! Yes, that’s right, I did just compare myself to a five star eventer. Hear me out.
Nicky came from a non-horsey background (like me), and started riding at the age of four (like me.) She rode at a riding school until she was 12 (like me), until she eventually got a pony of her own on loan (like me, although mine was a share rather than a loan.) She didn’t own her own horse until she was 18! But while it’s taken me 24 years to reach the dizzying heights of my first ever BE80, Nicky has a stellar competition record that saw her compete at her first 5* in Pau in October 2018.
Nicky and MGH Bingo Boy had a fantastic first ride at Badminton, ending up in 18th as the highest placed first-time rider. This is their first Burghley, and if it goes as well as their Badminton, they’ll definitely be a combination to watch.
Nana Dalton – Absolut Opposition
I’d been so hoping to see Nana compete at Badminton this year, but although she was agonisingly close to the top of the wait list by the time of the competition, she didn’t quite make it in. So when I saw her name on the Burghley entries, I was delighted.
I’ve really enjoyed reading Nana’s blogs in Horse and Hound – she’s been so honest in describing her recovery from a brutal 2018, which saw her sustain a head injury which took a good six months to clear and forced her to take a break from competition towards the end of last season. As if that wasn’t enough, Nana also underwent a double mastectomy and reconstruction. And then earlier this year she was back in hospital again. More recently, she’s upped sticks and taken her son and her horses miles away from home to base with William Fox-Pitt in Dorset. Such a brave lady and a total inspiration.
Her beautiful horse Absolut Opposition is another Fleetwater Opposition-sired horse (like my all-time favourite Opposition Buzz). They are just true cross country horses and an absolute pleasure to watch. They completed at Burghley last year and finished a very respectable 28th. How good would it be to see them finish within the top 20 this year?
Pippa Funnell – Billy Walk On and MGH Grafton Street
I don’t even know where to start with Pippa. EVERYBODY knows what a legend she is. But she’s had a whirlwind few weeks even by Pippa standards – a couple of weeks ago, she was three hours away from home enjoying a weekend off, when she got called up to the British team for the European Eventing Championships at Luhmuhlen, Germany at the very last minute, replacing Tom McEwen. 24 hours later, Pippa and Majas Hope were in Germany – an unbelievable turnaround that she said was only made possible thanks to the super team she has at home. And three days after that, she was standing on the podium collecting her team silver medal. LEGEND.
I follow Pippa on social media and she always seems like such a lovely, down-to-earth person too. She’s ALWAYS thanking her team (I love that) and she manages to make everything so relatable despite being at the top of her game. We could all do with trying to be a little more Pippa.
Back to Burghley: she was the last female British rider to win here, in 2003 (which also happened to be her final leg of winning the Grand Slam – i.e. winning Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley consecutively – the only other person to win this being Michael Jung in 2016.) MGH Grafton Street has been on good form recently, coming 5th in the 4* at Barbury in July, and 3rd at Hartpury in August. But both MGH Grafton Street and Pippa’s other rider Billy Walk On missed their last preparatory run at Wellington last week, because of Pippa’s last minute trip to Germany. Let’s hope that means they both come out firing on all cylinders and help make this season an even more memorable one for Pippa.
Totally Amateur Eventing 