The HSBC FEI Classics™ - Townend takes the lead ahead of Fox-Pitt after first day of dressage at Burghley

Ollie Townend claimed pole position after the first day of dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in Lincolnshire this afternoon while fellow-Briton William Fox-Pitt, who currently heads up  the 2008 HSBC FEI Classics™ leaderboard, slotted into second place.

Burghley presents the penultimate leg of the the HSBC series which links the five 4-Star events at Kentucky, Badminton, Luhmuehlen, Burghley and Pau, and after the first three legs Fox-Pitt has a 10-point lead over America's Philip Dutton and Frenchman Nicolas Touzaint who share second spot on the series table. 

 DISAPPOINTED

Fox-Pitt was disappointed with his test with Ballincoola today however.  "He was a bit 'middle-of-the-road'" said the defending champion who last year held the trophy aloft following a superb performance with Parkmore Ed.  He is aiming for a record-equalling fifth Burghley victory this time around, but he said Ballincoola "chucked away a lot of marks today, which was very frustrating", and all-the-more-so because his partnership with the 14 year old Irish-bred gelding is coming to an end as the horse will return to joint-owner Michael Payne for competition at Young Rider level after this weekend.

Townend, on the other hand, was more than pleased with the test he performed with Flint Curtis.  "It was his best ever" said the 25 year old who was a member of last year's European silver medal-winning British side.  "My horse is only 12 years old and he has already had a great career.  Last year he won the Scottish Open Championship at Thirlestane and the World Cup Qualifiier at Burnham Market and this year he won the CIC-W at Chatsworth.  He was third in Badminton in 2006 and second in Punchestown in 2007 so he has a lot of experience for his age" the rider added.

 Townend, who lives in Market Harborough in Leicestershire, was disappointed when not making the original selection for the British Olympic team and so decided to take his name off the reserve list for Hong Kong this summer and aim for Burghley instead. He's feeling pretty good about that decision now.  "Today my horse was very relaxed and very rideable and that gave us the advantage" he pointed out.  His score of 45.4 leaves him almost three points ahead of Fox-Pitt with 48.2, but Australia's Paul Tapner is only fractionally further adrift in third after earning a mark of 48.5. 

 ALMOST AN OLYMPIAN

Tapner, who has been based in Wiltshire in England for some years, is another "almost Olympian". His chance of a confirmed place on the Australian "A" list for Hong Kong was jeopardised by a stop at the Staircase fence in Badminton in May, but he was chosen as reserve and went through the quarantine procedure with his 12 year old gelding Inonothing.  By his own admission he has been enjoying "an awesome season" with his string of horses and he finished fifth at the British Open Championships and won through at Belton CIC 3-Star with his Burghley ride who knows a lot more than he pretends if today's performance is anything to go by.

Barely five marks separate the top ten riders after today's opening dressage session with European individual silver medallist Mary King lying fourth with Apache Sauce and fellow-Britons Clea Philips (Lead the Way) and James Robinson (Comanche) filling the next two placings.  Belgium's Karin Donckers, who was most impressive when ninth individually in Hong Kong, steered SS Jett into seventh spot today ahead of America's Philip Dutton riding Woodburn who finished tenth behind his winning ride, Connaught, at Kentucky in April.  Dutton will be wanting to ensure his trip all the way from Pennsylvania is a worthwhile effort, and following him on the leaderboard at the end of day one are the home side's Daisy Dick (Hope Street) and Matthew Wright (L'Aristo du Lado).

CHANGES

Tomorrow (Thursday) however sees another 36 horses take their turn in the dressage arena so changes to the leaderboard can be expected.  There are plenty of big-name partnerships still to take the stage including Australia's Andrew Hoy and Moonfleet who will be hoping to wipe out the memory of their dramatic early exit on cross-county day at Badminton with a better run of luck this time out and Britain's Lucy Wiegersma with Shaabrak, World Champion Zara Philips with Ardfield Magic Star, Mary King with Imperial Cavalier and Fox-Pitt with his second ride, the talented but sometimes unpredictable Tamarillo.

Fox-Pitt believes the weather may well influence the outcome this weekend, with blustery winds and heavy rain forecast over the next few days.  "The rain could affect the competition quite drastically" he commented today, "in soft conditions anything can happen".  

But Paul Tapner was in more upbeat mood.  He's done his homework and has discovered that in Olympic years, such as this one, riders who fail to make the cut into their national Olympic teams quite often do well at Burghley.  "And my horse rarely makes mistakes" he said this evening with more than a hint of confidence.

RESULTS - After Day 1 Dressage - 1, Flint Curtis (Oliver Townend) GBR 45.4; 2, Ballincoola (William Fox-Pitt) GBR 48.2; 3, Inonothing (Paul Tapner) Aus 48.5; 4, Apache Sauce (Mary King) GBR 49.1; 5, Lead the Way (Clea Phillips) GBR 49.6; 6, Comanche (James Robinson) GBR 49.8; 7, SS Jett (Karin Donckers) Bel 50.0; 8, Woodburn (Philip Dutton) USA 50.2; 9, Hope Street (Daisy Dick) GBR 51.3; 10, L'Aristo du Lado (Matthew Wright) GBR 51.5; 11, Fairfax (Rodolphe Scherer) Fra 53.0; 12, Fortunesnight (Olivia Haddow) GBR 54.1; 13, Sparrow Hall (Marie Ryan) GBR 55.9; 14, Vettori (Stuart Tinney) Aus 56.5; 15, Birthday Night (Harry Meade) GBR 58.5; 16, Muschamp Impala (Andrew Nicholson) NZL 58.9; 17, What a Performance (Piggy French) FBR 59.6; 18, Mr Pracatan (Dan Jocelyn) NZL 59.8; 19, Big El (Dee Kennedy) GBR 60.7; 20, Ease on Fire (Joe Meyer) NZL 61.1; Equal 21, Black Drum (Annabel Wigley) NZL, Glenbuck (Zara Philips) GBR 61.3; 23, The Biz (Heidi Woodhead) GBR 61.7; Equal 24, Beckli (Lucy Wiegersma) GBR, Brief Respite (Tristram Owers) GBR 62.8; 26, Park Pageboy (Clare Lewis) GBR 63.3; 27, Deltry Salute (Lea Ryder) GBR 64.4; 28, Azia 11 (Luisa Palli) Ita 67.8; 29, Barry's Best (Rosie Thomas) GBR 69.1; 30, I've Been Dun (Sacha Pemble) Irl 71.1; 31, Looks Like Fun (Vicky Brake) GBR 71.7; 32, Mercury Rising (Tom Mills) GBR 72.2; Equal 33, Just Appeal (Sian Wynne-Morris), Valentina (Richard Jones) GBR 72.8; 35, Bit of a Barney (Louise Skelton) GBR 73.9.

STANDINGS AFTER THREE LEGS OF THE HSBC FEI CLASSICS (KENTUCKY, BADMINTON & LUHMUHLEN)::

1. William Fox Pitt (UK) – 25 points (Differential Score – 51.00)
2. Phillip Dutton (USA) – 15 points (DS – 41.70)
3. Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) – 15 points (DS – 48.70)
4. Rebecca Holder (USA) – 12 points (DS – 47.30)
5. Lucy Weigersma (UK) – 12 points (DS – 49.80)
6. Frank Ostholt (GER)– 12 points (DS – 51.40)
7. Stuart Tinney (AUS) – 10 points (DS – 52.20)
8. Missy Ransehousen (USA ) – 10 points (DS – 57.30)
9. Caroline Powell (NZL) – 8 points (DS – 52.80)
10.Stephen Bradley(USA) – 8 points (DS – 57.50)

The HSBC FEI CLASSICS is a new FEI series linking the five 4-Star Eventing competitions currently on the international calendar.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2008:

1, Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event (USA) 24-27 April; 2, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR) 1-4 May; 3, Luhmuhlen CCI**** presented by EON (Ger) 12-15 June; 4, Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) 4-7 September; 5, FINAL - Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA) 22-26 October.

POINTS SYSTEM:

Points will be awarded to the top ten riders at each event as follows:

• 1st: 15 points
• 2nd: 12 points
• 3rd: 10 points
• 4th: 8 points
• 5th: 6 points
• 6th : 5 points
• 7th: 4 points
• 8th: 3 points
• 9th: 2 points
• 10th: 1 point

Riders can only win points with their best horse/performance at one event and if the combination has obtained a qualifying result.  Only the top ten riders will score points.  

Tie-Break: In case of equality of ranking points, the best-placed rider is the competitor with the lowest total of penalty points at the specific event (=differentiating score).

PRIZE MONEY            

HSBC will contribute US$1million to the series over the next three years. At the end of each season, the five riders with the greatest number of points will be awarded PRIZE-MONEY as follows:

Series Champion - US$ 150,000; 2nd - US$ 75,000; 3rd - US$ 50,000; 4th - US$ 33,333; 5th - US$ 25,000. 

This represents the biggest prize pot on offer in the sport of eventing on an annual basis.

USEFUL INFORMATION

For further information on the fourth leg of the HSBC FEI Classics™ check out website www.burghley-horse.co.uk

PHOTO CATALOGUE - Photographs of the winning riders in high and low resolution can be downloaded from the FEI online catalogue.  To access it, please visit www.fei.org >Media >Photo Catalogue (or click here). There is no reproduction fee, but please credit photographer (photographer's name will appear under each photo)/FEI.  Usage is strictly for editorial purposes.