Oliver Townend flies around eventing World Championships cross-country – Britain on podium overnight after penalty review

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Eventing World Championships cross-country
Oliver Townend riding Ballaghmor Class
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

The fourth and final team member for Britain, Oliver Townend, rode a superb eventing World Championships cross-country round in Pratoni Del Vivaro, Italy to finish clear and four seconds inside the optimum time on Angela Hislop and Val Ryan’s 15-year-old, Ballaghmor Class. This means, that at the end of the cross-country, Oliver is in fourth, just 0.3 of a penalty behind the USA’s Tamie Smith in third.

“The cross-country here is a very different test to normal, but I think a very fair and cleverly designed test,” Oliver said. “I don’t think it particularly suits some of the older horses such as London 52, Ballaghmor Class and Toledo De Kerser, that have been around those big five-stars like Badminton and Burghley, because this is definitely smaller dimensionally, you’re up and down the hills, and the terrain is tough too.

Gemma Redrup
Gemma Redrup
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.