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‘He’s my good mate and I’m so proud’: Oliver Townend’s five-star warrior delivers yet again at Badminton

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class today produced another brilliant cross-country round at Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian. The crowd was treated yet again to the familiar sight of this fleabitten grey eating up the Badminton turf. This was his eighth clear cross-country round at the five-star level, and he has yet to finish outside the top five.

    Sixth after dressage, Oliver wanted to improve his fortunes after Swallow Springs failed to complete earlier in the day. Several horses have struggled in the holding going, but Oliver made the most of Ballaghmor Class’s giant stride to come home with 21.2 time-faults, the third-fastest time of the day to move up to third spot overnight. They did rattle the big corner in The Lake, but their partnership is so strong that it hardly broke the horse’s stride.

    Watch Oliver talk about his round on Ballaghmor Class

    “He’s unreal, he’s very reliable, and he’s a good mate,” said Oliver of the 16-year-old, who is owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan. “I’ve had him since he was four, and I just trust him 100% and I think he trusts me 100%. I am not eloquent enough to tell you how proud I am.

    “He has no reason at this stage in his life to do what he’s just done. You can’t make a horse do it. He loves his job, and he’s a true professional. He’s probably like me in that he’s a nightmare when he’s not kept busy. We’re very similar and life would be a lot more boring for me without him around.

    “When he finds the ground harder work and starts to get stuck in gear, he’s difficult to shorten – he’s a great stayer,” he added. “A couple of times I couldn’t see a distance so I just thought I’ll keep going, like at the HorseQuest Quarry, and every time he helps me out. Moments like that I think, ‘Thank God I am sat on you’.

    “I couldn’t be more proud of the whole team – who know him inside out and he knows us all individually. He’s like family. He gives me a smack and nudge when I go past his stable, because I’m not allowed to go past without acknowledging him!”

    The final few riders could make no further impression on the leaderboard.

    Izzy Taylor had a fall at the KBIS Brush Boxes. Izzy looked a little winded for a short while, but both she and Graf Cavalier walked away.

    Dan Jocelyn added a clear round on Blackthorn Cruise to his earlier completion on Cooley One Too Many.

    Pippa Funnell had a stop on Billy Walk On at the log into water at the Mars Equestrian Sustainability Bay, the same fence where her bid came to an end last year. However, she is lying ninth on Majas Hope after a fast clear in the morning.

    Ros Canter holds top spot on her dressage leader Lordships Graffalo, while Austin O’Connor breezed round in the fastest time of the day to move up from 34th to second.

    How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on dogs of all shapes and sizes. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs, one a street dog from Gambia who was abandoned at three weeks old. Now, her constant companion, whether by her feet at her desk or walking cross-country courses, is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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