Emily King and Valmy Biats made a splash as the first Defender Burghley Horse Trials dressage competitors on the second day. They started Friday’s action with a personal best score of 24.1, which puts them into second place behind overnight leaders Ros Canter and Izilot DHI.
“I’m really pleased with him – he was listening to me and felt the same from the warm-up when we went in and it’s always easier when they are like that,” she said. “He goes quite strong and on a mission, so I had to re-set his balance. He comes round and halts and then feels like he wants to go out of the cross-country start box and you’re like, ‘Not quite yet!’ But he kept letting me ride him and didn’t get too hot, so I’m really pleased with how he navigated that.”
Riding this 15-year-old horse – owned by his breeder Philippe Brivois, Emily’s father David and the Valmy Biats Syndicate – Emily started the test with a lovely square halt, which was then marred when the horse moved off as she saluted. But she was fault-free from then onwards, showing active, correct work.
She was trending around 73% in the trot-work, held together a slightly fragile walk and then, unusually, improved her marks in the canter – many riders struggle in the flying changes and leak points here, but not Emily. She scored a couple of nines, including in the extended canter and one of the canter half-passes.
“When I shortened his frame into medium walk, I could feel him going quite delicate, so I thought I’d keep the frame a bit longer and keep him walking, even though it’s not technically correct,” said Emily, showing her skill as a test rider in being able to make that decision and adjustment in the moment.
Emily King added that doing a new test here in the Burghley Horse Trials dressage – a talking point for riders yesterday – works well for older horses as they know the movements, but presenting them in a different order stops these experienced campaigners anticipating, as they might with a more familiar test.
British rising star Emily, 28, and Valmy were fourth at Badminton Horse Trials in May, so are well-placed to improve on their 25th place here last year. Emily’s mother Mary King won here in 1996 on Star Appeal, so Emily has the opportunity to become a second-generation five-star winner this week.
Tom McEwen scored 31.1 in this morning’s first session to slot into eighth place. He and Vicky Bates and David Myers’ double five-star runner-up CHF Cooliser were trending over 70% in the trot-work, but missed some of their flying changes, which proved expensive.
“She was so nice and relaxed I lost a bit of energy for the changes, which was costly and a shame,” said Tom.
Speaking about this chestnut mare’s character, Tom added: “She does whatever she wants to do and me and Adam [Short, Tom’s groom] are just in her tailwind, to be honest!”
Burghley debutante Cosby Green was the other early rider to claim a top-10 place at this stage when she scored 31.6 for 10th with schoolmaster Copper Beach, owned by Bel Mar Farm. The US rider is based in Dorset with Tim and Jonelle Price.
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