The top 3 riders after the XC and the Course Designer were ready to answer our questions at the Press Conference.
Jonelle Price, in 3rd place:
“She’s the fast one, I just have to keep up with her… I had a fantastic ride… it was big and imposing when I walked it, I was pleasantly surprised. I had a good plan going out. We knew we had to take economical lines.”
Tim Price, in 2nd place:
He had a wasp inside his shirt after Discovery Valley, he felt a scratchy sensation on his tummy, he tried to adjust it, and carried on. When he finished he pulled his shirt up and a little wasp fell out and flew off, “it looked quite annoyed.”
His plan was “to survive it. It didn’t ride as it walked.” The horse is “not conventional in his jumping. He has big scope and is honest, tries hand, but has a very long stride, so it was a bit of a scramble at the Trout Hatchery, and at Discovery Valley.” He said the course was “always a good challenge, fun” and that he was “surprised how well the horses went up Winners Avenue.”
Michael Jung, in 1st place:
He raised a laugh by saying how quickly his round was over on Rocana, after a ‘very bad mistake’ when she tripped and fell going down the slope into the water.
He went back to the stables and his brother said “Now you must start fighting. You were in 7th with Sam, now you are in 6th.”
He said that Sam is a “very very strong horse” with lots of experience. He went slowly at the beginning, went up the hill to 13, had a very good feeling. His leg (from where he fell) “it’s ok enough.”
The course was “tough, but it was in very good conditions” (ground, weather). He is very happy.
Captain Mark Phillips:
“It’s a big track, I was pretty nervous. The riders rode a lot of the fences a bit differently to how I thought they would, but what do I know?”
What rode differently? “Capability’s Cutting, most went on the left hand side”…He “didn’t anticipate riders doing 4 strides at the Cottesmore Leap” [in fact I am pretty sure 1 rider did it on 3!] or “3 strides at the Rolex Combination”. The Trout Hatchery was “more forgiving than I thought it would be”
Only 12 walked home, he was expecting a bigger number.
38 clears, which is a good percentage.
He is “very relieved and happy”.
When asked about next year, he said that it is an expensive exercise to turn around a course like Burghley which is not flat, so he thinks there will be pressure on to keep it this way around for a few years. Riders learn, for example they realised that if they were down on the clock by the Cottesmore Leap, it was very difficult to get that time back.
The final word: “I can promise one thing, it won’t be bigger next year!”
