Will Rawlin has taken second place after the post-lunch Defender Burghley Horse Trials dressage session today (4 September).
British rider Will and Ballycoog Breaker Boy, who belongs to his rider and his parents Andrew and Miranda Rawlin, showed some quality work in the arena today to pull off a mark of 28.8.
The judges – Andrew Bennie, Christina Klingspor and Valerie Pride – did not have much reason to reach for the eight button this morning, but Ballycoog Breaker Boy’s first three flying changes, which were expressive and airborne, were among the movements which garnered higher marks.
Will Rawlin said after his Burghley Horse Trials dressage: “‘William’ has been producing some really good work at home in our training sessions and the training sessions we’ve had here with Tracie [Robinson], my trainer, have just been spot on.
“There was quite an atmosphere and he definitely lit up a bit. But he was absolutely with me all the way and produced some of his best work. I was just super frustrated in certain points that I didn’t execute things as well as we could have, but we’re still getting used to this level.
“There’s so much more in there for both of us to produce and give. It’s just match practice and getting used to riding in those rings and the atmosphere.”
Thirty-one-year-old Will and Ballycoog Breaker Boy are bidding to add a first Burghley completion to their two finishes at Badminton Horse Trials, having started the cross-country here last year but not made it to the end.
Will went into the lead at the end of his test, but was immediately overtaken by the next rider, Piggy March (MCS Maverick) – he joked that the same happened at his first five-star, at Bicton in 2021, but that the double five-star winner is “not a bad person to be sitting behind”.
Ballyneety Silver Service makes strong Burghley dressage debut
Another British rider, Holly Richardson, impressed just before Will with a neat ride on five-star first-timer Ballyneety Silver Service, owned by Issy Saxby. She now sits sixth on 32.4.
“He’s just 10 and he’s not taken that long to get to where he is – he’s a galloping machine, so to go in and sit in the dressage is quite hard for him, but we know it’s in there,” said Holly, who took over the ride when owner Issy Saxby, who produced the horse to three-star, went to university.
“The medium trots are his strength, so it was really good to pull those mediums and extended off. And his walk is amazing, so it was good that he stayed calm enough to actually produce that.”
Holly said the horse is a “huge character”.
She said: “He’s very bolshy on the ground, but really polite to ride. You can just ride him in a snaffle really nicely, but on the ground, he pushes you over with his head!”
Last year’s Badminton runner-up, Irish amateur rider Lucy Latta, was the second into the arena after the break and scored 34.4 with the Crampton family’s RCA Patron Saint. She sits 10th at the afternoon break.
“He was very well behaved. He came against my hand a little bit in there, so we lost a little bit of softness for those better marks, but overall I’m pleased with him. It’s only his second time in as big an atmosphere,” said Lucy.
Lucy and “Paddy” are back at five-star for the first time since their Badminton success last year as the horse had colic on arrival at Burghley last year and then cut himself at home shortly before Badminton this spring.
To stay up-to-date with all the breaking news throughout Burghley and other major shows this year, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website, from £1 a week. Horse & Hound’s 20-page magazine report on Burghley is published in 11 September issue, including full analysis and exclusive comment from six-time Burghley winner William Fox-Pitt.
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