He scored 24.2 with Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Swallow Springs, putting them 2.7 penalties ahead of Ros and Pencos Crown Jewel, who now sit in second.
“I thought his test was exceptional and I feel that he is improving in this phase all the time,” said Oliver, who took over the ride on the now 15-year-old from Andrew Nicholson in 2019. “It’s obviously a credit to Andrew, who did an amazing job producing him, but with the work and management we’re giving him, Swallow Springs is continuing to improve right to the end of his career. Hopefully he’s got a few years left, but he’s not a young horse.”
Oliver and Swallow Springs effectively performed a clear round with marks consistently ranging between 6.5 and nine, with judge at E, Nick Burton, awarding them nines for the final two movements; the final centre line and halt.
As the first day comes to a close, Burghley first-timer Emily King is third with Valmy Biats on 30, while Tom McEwen holds fourth with five-star first-timer Luna Mist on 30.5.
Oliver Townend is fifth with one of his other three rides, Tregilder, on 30.5, while US Burghley first-timer Jennie Saville is sixth with FE Lifestyle on 31.1.
“Dressage is usually the hardest phase for ‘Foxy’ and I think he handled it all quite well,” said Jennie, who was visibly emotional after her Burghley Horse Trials dressage test. “Shout out to Phillip Dutton – he’s helped me so much with this horse on the flat and it’s made all the difference in the world. I worked for Phillip for five years and the first time I came to Burghley was to watch him with TruLuck in 2009 – he’s really helped me a tonne, as have the whole team.”
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Jennie explained that Phillip has been riding Foxy during the summer, which has helped a great deal with their first phase performances.
“Phillip rode him for me while I was away competing in Montana this summer and when I came back he gave me heaps of lessons and just kind of laid down the law with Foxy,” said Jennie. “Phillip said ‘he’s messing about with you and you’ve got to get serious about this’, whereas I thought he would always be the boss of me. Philip made a huge difference sitting on him for me.”
Rounding off the top 10 at the end of day one of Burghley Horse Trials dressage is Zara Tindall (Class Affair) in seventh on 31.3, the US’s Boyd Martin (On Cue) in eighth on 31.8, Matthew Heath (Askari) in ninth on 32.1 and Harry Meade (Cavalier Crystal) in 10th on 32.2.
The dressage resumes at 9.45am tomorrow morning, with Richard Skelt and Credo first into the arena.
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
