William Fox-Pitt has won Burghley Horse Trials 2011 for the sixth time in his career riding PARKLANE HAWK.
William lead the field after the first day of dressage on a score of 39.7 including three 9′s for his riding and although he did halt too early on the final centre line he held onto top spot.
Commenting after his XC round, Fox-Pitt, who said Parklane Hawk felt as if he had “grown wings” when launching into space off the precipitous drop at the Leaf Pit (fence 4), commented: “It’s a good course for a genuine horse. It was massive all the way, but you never expect a holiday at Burghley.”
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) had the slimmest of leads to win a record sixth Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics™, after a thrilling day’s cross-country. With a fence in hand, William had it all to lose as he was last to jump. However, he didn’t need it as he left all the fences intact
A delighted William said: “I can’t believe it. He is still a little green in the showjumping, but he was superb today! He is a phenomenal horse and I am so lucky to have him to ride.”
The rain was aplenty with a number of the top riders facing horid conditions. Many horses struggled with the ground including Andrew Nicholsons Averbury who knocked three down.
CLICK HERE for the final score board
You can watch the highlights again on BBC iPlayer at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014fg1h/Burghley_Horse_Trials_2011/
HSBC FEI Classics™ Leaderboard in 2011 (after 3 out of 5 events)
1 Mary King (GBR) 28 points
2 Piggy French (GBR) 20
3 Mark Todd (NZL) 15
4 Andreas Dibowski (GER) 15
5 Sandra Auffarth (GER) 12
6 Clayton Fredericks (AUS) 12
7 Sinead Halpin (USA) 10
8 Frank Ostholt (GER) 10
9 William Fox-Pitt (GBR) 10
10 Oliver Townend (GBR) 9
Audio interviews:
William Fox Pitt (GBR) http://www.lloydbell.co.uk/access/client_zone/Wiliam_Fox_Pitt_CC.MP3
Andrew Nicholson (NZL) http://www.lloydbell.co.uk/access/client_zone/Andrew_Nicholson_CC.MP3
Caroline Powell (NZL) http://www.lloydbell.co.uk/access/client_zone/Caroline_Powell_CC.MP3
Zara Phillips (GBR) http://www.lloydbell.co.uk/access/client_zone/Zara_Phillips_CC.MP3
