‘So nice, so balanced, so gorgeous’: how this five-year-old stole the show at Burghley
WLS Cula Bula and Caroline Powell topped this year’s Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse five-year-old final – and Caroline already has her sights on a return in four years’ time
Caroline Powell topped the five-year-old Dubarry Burghley Young Event Horse final on a final score of 80.65 riding WLS Cula Bula, an Irish Sport Horse mare by KMS Rooney Van De Veldbaile out of Ebony A.S (by Sorento), owned by Cath Tomson.
“She’s a gorgeous horse,” Caroline said. “She was the one I was actually riding after my knee operation, because she was just so nice, so balanced, and just gorgeous.”
“My partner Greg [Kinsella] – his mother [Gwen Kinsella] bred her, so we’ve kind of seen her right the way through from birth to now.”
The class – held at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials – assesses five-year-olds across four judged phases: dressage, jumping, suitability & type, and potential to gallop. Only the top 10 horses after the first three phases go forward to the gallop assessment, which was judged this year by Clayton Fredericks.
Cula Bula was top of the leaderboard going into the gallop phase, but it was extremely tight: she led with a combined dressage, jumping and suitability & type score of 74.65, just 0.1 ahead of Oliver Townend’s Mystique Noir on 74.55.
Ros Canter and Reuben – who’s by O’Neill Van’t Eigenlo, also known as Minute Man, out of a mare by Vigo d’Arsouilles – topped the gallop, adding 10 points to their final mark and moving them up to third overall.
WLS Cula Bula’s win was built on good versatility across all the phases – placing 10th in the dressage, second in the jumping, fourth in the suitability test, and fifth in the gallop – with Caroline hoping the mare can return to Burghley for the five-star in four years’ time as a serious contender.
“She’s a horse I’ve actually been quite excited about bringing on, and I’m hoping in four years’ time she’ll be here again,” Caroline said.
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She’s already seeing the qualities that could take the mare there. “When she wants to, she can perform the most beautiful test. But she comes in now and actually really enjoys the people watching too, which is important for the top class. I really do think she’ll come back – that's my plan.”
Top 10: Dubarry Young Event Horse five-year-old final at Burghley
- WLS Cula Bula (Caroline Powell) – 80.65
- Parc All The Hype (Kitty King) – 79.90
- Reuben (Ros Canter) – 79.55
- Rockefeller Scais (Caroline Powell) – 79.40
- Cooley Lionheart (Caroline Harris) – 78.90
- Very Cooley (Oliver Townend) – 75.75
- MSHI Grennanstown High Hopes (Holly Woodhead) – 75.65
- Mystique Noir (Oliver Townend) – 75.55
- HSH My Guy (Lisa Freckingham) – 73.15
- Rossi G (Max Warburton) – 72.70
- To stay up to date with the latest news and reports throughout Defender Burghley Horse Trials, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website and enjoy our Burghley live news service throughout the event
Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).