“I can’t quite believe I’m having to write this, but sadly I’ve had to make the tough decision to withdraw Mr Bass from Burghley due to him not feeling 100% when I worked him yesterday. As hard as it is, we know this is the right decision… roll on Badminton 2019,” said Laura on social media.
Laura and Mr Bass were on the British long-list for the World Equestrian Games (WEG), which takes place in Tryon, USA, two weeks after Burghley, and when they were not selected,many hoped they would score a top result at Burghley to prove that they would have been worthy team members.
Laura has been on top form this season and finished eighth in the final Event Rider Masters (ERM) leg at Blair last week riding London 52, securing herself second place in the ERM overall league.
Other recent Burghley withdrawals include Treason (Sarah Cohen), Euro Prince (Clare Abbott), Strike Smartly and Toledo De Kerser (Tom McEwen), Cooley Lands (Chris Burton), Cooley Earl (Georgie Strang), Last Touch (Charlotte Bacon), Steady Eddie (Boyd Martin), Charlton Down Riverdance (Becky Woolven) and Leonidas II (Mark Todd).
The Australian put in the only cross-country round inside the optimum time on a very wet day in Scotland to
New Zealand’s Andrew Nicholson still has three horses in the draw — Teseo, Swallow Springs and Jet Set IV — but he will only start on two of them.
Last year’s winner, Oliver Townend, still has five horses in the mix, but will only start on three, so he has to choose which ones out of Ballaghmor Class, Cooley SRS, Cooley Master Class, MHS King Joules and Ulises. He said last week that the horses would have a gallop on Monday (yesterday) and a jump today before he made his decision.
Full Burghley preview in theHorse & Houndmagazine on sale now (issue dated 23 August) including course walk with Blyth Tait and form guide.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
