Burghley - weekend

Sadly my 2022 Burghley did not come off.  I had really hoped that Burghley would suit Oratorio and I felt that this year’s course was right up his street.  He felt fantastic and there was nothing on the course that I was particularly worried about for him, but I knew it would take some jumping.  The long and the short of it was that things came unstuck at the leaf pit and I don’t know what I could have changed.  He took the drop to the jump hedge quite keenly and I think he genuinely did not lock-on to the following corner.  Several horses fell victim in the same way but I in no way hold it against him, he is a very genuine horse and this time he sadly never lined up the corner.  With 20 penalties there was no point carrying on and we will have to think about what happens next. 

His owners and I have decided that we won’t take him back to Pau.  We would love to take him to Maryland but we would need to find a very decent sponsor because getting there is quite an investment.

It was a terrific Burghley with the cross country having a real impact on the result.  There was no more deserved winner than Piggy, she put in an amazing Burghley performance and what a mare Vanir Kamira is to pull off a Badminton Burghley double.

Burghley did the best job they could have done with the grounds and the conditions and Derek de Grazia produced a course that our sport really needs.  There was a lot of drama and excitement but no disasters.