Izzy Taylor set a new record on day 1 of the dressage, for the best CCI4*-S dressage test ever performed at Burgham International Horse Trials
© Rupert Gibson Photography
While major international events are on hold in Australia due to Covid-19, FEI eventing action has now recommenced in the UK. Burgham International Horse Trials, running from August 20th – 23rd, is the first international British event to run since restrictions eased in England, and Australian riders Andrew Hoy, Sammi Birch, Sam Griffiths and Bill Levett are among those competing.
Despite the event being closed to spectators this year, and those riders who competed at Haras du Pin in Normandy last week being barred from competing due to an imposed 14 day quarantine period, it’s set to be an exciting event and the first day of competition has seen new records achieved.
Izzy Taylor set a new record on day 1 of the dressage, for the best CCI4*-S dressage test ever performed at Burgham International Horse Trials. Irish statistics company EquiRatings confirmed that her score of 21.2 on Monkeying Around beats the previous record of 22.4, set by Gemma Tattersall (Chico Bella P) in 2015.
Nine-year-old Monkeying Around, who is owned by Izzy and Mark Sartori, won the six-year-old class at the young horse world championships at Le Lion d’Angers, France, in 2017.
Izzy said: “He was super today – he’s getting stronger and more rideable, so I can be a bit ‘braver’ in the arena on him, and there’s still loads more to come from him.
“Burgham’s team have done an amazing job to get this event running, and the number and the calibre of riders here speaks for itself.”
Izzy leads CCI4*-S section M by an impressive 6.3 marks from New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell (Diachello). Australian Sammi Birch is currently in provisional 9th place in the CCI4*-S on 30.6 penalties with The Kincooley Ceili, and will complete the dressage phase with Hunter Valley II in the same class on Friday, along with Andrew Hoy and Basmati.
World number one Oliver Townend is in the lead in CCI4*-S section L on his 2017 Burghley winner Ballaghmor Class, owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan. The pair scored 21.4, so were a fraction of a mark outside of Izzy’s new record themselves. Second are Piggy March and Brookfield Quality on 23.1.
Oliver said: “It feels very good to be back out competing. I love it here – the organisers do a top-class job and we’ve had a great start in terms of ground and the preparation from the organising team. For me, it’s as good as any event in the world.”
Sammi Birch lies in provisional 20th place in the CCI4*-S Section M class on 35.3 penalties with Finduss PFB, while Sam Griffiths and Gurtera Cher are currently in 25th place with 36.6 penalties.
The dressage phase concludes on Friday 21st August, with Show Jumping and Cross Country for the CCI4*-S classes taking place on Saturday 22nd August.
In addition to the CCI4*-S, there are classes from BE100 level right through to the 4* level, as well as Young Event Horse classes. Stay tuned for reports this weekend as the action unfolds!
News and results from Burgham are available via the event’s website and Facebook page.
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