It wasn’t the perfect ending for Tim and Jonelle Price at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, after scattering a few poles between them to drop a place each in the final phase.
Tim Price had been vying for the lead in overnight second with Vitali on 26.5, but his Tokyo Olympic ride has an inconsistent showjumping record, and lowered three fences. However, such was the cross-country influence from the previous day that he remained on the podium in third, behind winner Piggy March (Vanir Kamira) and runner-up Tom Jackson (Capels Hollow Drift).
“You have to keep it all in perspective,” said Tim. “It’s easy to get distracted by the fact we were in a good position, but you must jump clear today to win.”
Vitali showjumped clear on his latest outing to win Gatcombe’s British open, but a touch of fatigue caught up with him today as he hit fence two, and then lowered two elements in the treble.
“Showjumping is his weak phase, but he did a very good performance in the dressage, and excelled yesterday,” said Tim. “That was bound to take its toll, especially on a horse that hasn’t been in this position before.
“I’ll take it away as a positive experience and look forward to next time. He’s class and what he showed me yesterday has got me excited for the future.”
Burghley Horse Trials showjumping: ‘You dream of that elusive clear’
Meanwhile, Jonelle Price’s fabulous cross-country round on the 19-year-old superstar mare Classic Moet had moved her up from 25th after dressage to third ahead of showjumping. But two fences down, eight and 10, dropped her a place to fourth.
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“If you’d given me a top-five finish at the start of the week, I would have been happy,” said Jonelle, whose mare has now completed a record 12 out of 12 CCI5* cross-country clears. “But when you are up there in the mix, you dream of that elusive clear and think what could be.
“However, she showed me that she still deserves to be here and she felt as good as ever today.”
Jonelle Price and Classic Moet take fourth at Burghley 2022.
(Image credit: Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials)
Classic Moet won the new Avebury Trophy for the best cross-country performance, selected by Mark Phillips.
“Jonelle Price’s round on Classic Moet was the only one of the day to be inside the time – but that wasn’t the deciding factor in awarding it to her,” said Mark. “She did it more easily than the others, and still had time to add a stride at the final two fences.
“I thought the other two outstanding rounds came from Bubby Upton [Cola III] and Tom Jackson [Capels Hollow Drift], because they also made it look easy, and the best cross-country performances are those that do that.”
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion 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.
