September 6, 2024 
Only one rider could come close to Ros Canter and Izilot DHI’s first day score of 19.9 on Day 2 of dressage at the 5* Defender Burghley Horse Trials: Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo.
First into the arena this morning was Emily King (GBR) and Valmy Biats.
King has been knocking at the door for several years now, placing third at Badminton earlier this year. She produced a lovely flowing test that set the standard for the rest of the day with a score of 24.1.
“He is a very sensitive, powerful horse but he remained cool and calm,” said the delighted rider. “I think it was a great time of day to do the test as there was a lot less razzamatazz in the stands.”
Last year’s winner, Oliver Townend (GBR) produced the first 10 of the day on his Kentucky winner, Cooley Rosalent. At just 10 years of age, the mare produced a spell-binding test and might have challenged Canter’s score had they not fluffed the first flying change.
The first and final flying changes in the new dressage test carry double marks so the mistake proved expensive, putting them on 24.4 penalties. But the pair are still lying in fifth place going onto Saturday’s cross country phase.
Canter and Townend were the EquiRatings pre-event favorites with 25% and 22% win chances, respectively.
Townend’s score is equal to that of New Zealand’s Monica Spencer who produced the second 10 of the day with her 13-year-old Artist. Both athletes were awarded 10s for their halts, although in different stages in the test.
The final session brought about the biggest changes in the leaderboard, with Canter taking second place with Lordships Graffalo on a score of 22 penalties.
Comparing this test with their performance at the 2024 Olympic Games, Canter said, “I was delighted with Paris but I knew we could do better; then I had a lightbulb moment a couple of weeks ago and realized he just wasn’t quite straight enough, so now I’ve got him straight he’s going much better!”
Tim Price (NZL), who produced a record-breaking test for Burghley on Vitali last year, felt the pressure of that record when they entered the arena on Friday. Producing the third 10 of the day on his entry, he looked on course to beat his record, but they couldn’t quite raise the bar and finished 0.3 penalties behind Canter on 22.3, pushing King into 4th place overnight.
France produced three great tests with Gireg Le Coz taking 7th place on Aisprit De La Loge, Nicolas Touzaint, 9th on Absolut Gold HDC and Gaspard Maksud 10th on Zaragoza. New Zealand’s Caroline Powell is lying 8th on her Badminton winner, Greenacres Special Cavalier.
America’s Hannah Sue Holberg is lying 20th with Capitol H I M. While delighted with her test, she was less delighted with her slip of memory on course, which added two penalties to her marks. Had she not had the mental aberration she would have scored a very creditable 28.7 and lain 14th.
All eyes are now turned to cross country and the course has universally been heralded as one of the biggest ever seen.
“I’ve never seen such big arrowheads in my entire career!” said Pippa Funnell.
Tim Price’s conclusion: “It’s a proper Burghley test. Some fences look nigh on unjumpable but I like to trust the designers of these big famous events and I think [Derek Di Grazia] knows what he’s doing. It’s a great feeling when you are out there and riding the course but it’s not a nice feeling in the build-up to jumping the course!”
Cross country starts at 11am local time on Saturday and streams on Burghley TV.
