Young British rider scores extraordinary international treble – and finishes second to himself in two classes too

Max Warburton scored an extraordinary international treble at Bicton Horse Trials last week (21-25 October) – and finished second to himself in two of the three major classes, too.

“I’m not sure that’ll ever happen again in my career!” said Max, who kicked off a wet and windswept four days with a win in the Symonds & Sampson CCI3*-S with eight-year-old Norway Van De Haar, who belongs to Miranda Lucey, Sue Ruddock and Celia Gough.

The timetable for this class was shuffled around; the showjumping took place after the cross-country to allow the worst of Storm Austen to pass.

“The team at Bicton did an incredible job given the ghastly weather,” said Max. “The decent courses and tricky terrain mean that you can learn a lot about your horses – if they perform well here, it bodes very well for the future.”

That being the case, the future of this particular Warburton cohort certainly looks bright.

The elegant bay Norway Van De Haar kept a clean jumping sheet, adding just 4.4 time-penalties across country to his dressage score of 28.7.

“Norway had most of last season off with a minor injury, and has only had three outings this year, so it’s great to have him back on form,” said Max, who finished ahead of Ireland’s Patrick Whelan, whose two rides, Altitu and Coolaw Mr Duke, occupied the next two places.

Max Warburton’s grip on the Bicton proceedings continued in the Events Through a Lens CCI2*-L; Camilla Behrens’ exciting six-year-old Vinerado’s Affair won, ahead of Trevor Dickens’ seven-year-old mare, Graf Magic.

“Vinerado’s Affair is a beautiful horse who could have gone to Le Lion for the six-year-olds had I not already had two horses entered,” explained Max, who rounded off the weekend with a one-two in the Succeed Equine CCI2*-S with Trevor Dickens’ Jaguar Mail-sired seven-year-olds, Graf Design and Vanir Camiro, daughter of Badminton Horse Trials and Burghley Horse Trials winner Vanir Kamira.

“Graf Design was the surprise of the week as he only started eventing in the middle of the season and had only had five runs in his life,” continued Max. “He was very green to come here, but I was thrilled with how he stepped up.”

• To stay up to date with the latest equestrian news, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website