This year’s Defender Burghley groom’s prize recipient says she owes much of her success to her mum and fellow groom, Jess Elliott.
Francesca Denning, who looks after The Salty Syndicate’s Colorado Blue at events, won the SPILLERS Horse Care prize. However, on Saturday (6 September) she had another important duty away from the cross-country course.
“It was my best friend’s wedding on the Saturday,” she says. “I had to travel two hours away, and my mum and Jess, who grooms Austin’s other ride Sixmilewater, stepped in.”
Francesca says Salty, ridden into second place by Austin O’Connor, could not have been in safer hands. “Jess is super experienced. She knows exactly what she’s doing.
“My mum’s been to Badminton with me and knows how I do things, and we’re lucky to have Tim O’Hagen, the Irish team vet, with us.”
Francesca’s day job is working and riding for Jane O’Donald.
“I’m lucky that Jane lets me go off for a couple of weeks of the year to look after Salty at the big shows,” she says.
“I used to work for Austin when I first came out of university, and we’ve been friends ever since.
“I was lucky that when he went to Tokyo 2020, he asked me if I wanted to go and groom for him, and since then I’ve done all the shows with Salty, including the Paris Olympics, where it was a totally different atmosphere to Tokyo with the crowds.”
Burghley groom’s prize: caring for a crowd-favourite horse
He has talent in spades, but Salty is also the perfect gent. Francesca says he’s a pleasure to care for at a five-star.
“Salty loves being out for grazing, so I try to keep him out of his stable as much as possible,” she says. “He’s a really chilled character and so sweet, I just go in and do what I need to do.
“I do have to drag him down to the wash bay, though. You can tell he’s thinking “not again”, being a grey! But it’s a real pleasure to come and look after him, because he’s such a nice person. It makes it that much more enjoyable.”
The crowds know 16-year-old Salty well. Plus, as a head-turning grey, you can hardly miss Francesca’s handiwork.
“He’ll come out at the trot-up and the crowds will start laughing at him because he’s just Mr Cool. You see some horses get really lit up, but he’s like ‘whatever, I know what I’m doing, I’ve been here enough times now!’ and he struts his stuff.”
Francesca, who rides at two-star herself with her own and Jane O’Donald’s Rossa Seven, says she’s succeeded if Austin is free to maintain a clear head.
“The main thing I want to do is make it so Austin doesn’t have to think about anything but getting on his horse and riding. I don’t feel pressure from Austin or the team. As long as I’ve got the horse ready at the time we discussed, I’ve done my job – and the team generally is so supportive and relaxed.”
Francesca says the pair’s runner-up placing was their hard work behind the scenes “shining through”.
“Austin worked so hard on his dressage, and it paid off.
“It’s a special partnership,” she continues. “Everyone can see they have a great bond and know each other inside out, and they really come into their own on cross-country day.”
Francesca drove to Austin and wife Amy’s base in Didcot, Oxfordshire, after Burghley to “put Salty to bed.”
“It was so good to see him and Buster (Sixmilewater) having a roll and a well-deserved rest the next day.”
For Francesca, winning the Burghley groom’s prize is “amazing,” but she’s quick to share the success with Team O’Connor.
“Really, I can’t take all the credit,” she concludes. “It was a big team effort with my mum and Jess. And the team at home, who manage Salty every day, are the ones who had him looking in great condition out there. That’s all down to them.”
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