| The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, 2006.
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by Rosemary Cooper
‘It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person!’ That was the verdict of everyone who met Lucinda Fredericks after she surprised herself by winning Burghley 2006 on her little chestnut mare Headley Britannia.
‘Brit’s never been just another horse to me,’ said Lucinda, who has had to sell good horses more often than she has been able to keep them. ‘She’s a good friend and I was desperate to do well for her sake. She deserved to go to the World Equestrian Games, but this goes way beyond making amends for Aachen.’
Lucinda’s victory just snatched the Rolex Grand Slam, consisting of consecutive victories in the Kentucky Rolex, Badminton, and Burghley, away from fellow-Australian Andrew Hoy, who won friends by his approach.
‘ I don’t want to sound dismissive of the Rolex Grand Slam,’ he said, ‘but I never had it. What Rolex has done is to create global support. The number of people who have come up to my wife Bettina and me has been very humbling.’
Burghley 2006 was a wonderful place to be. The sun shone brightly, the huge crowds buzzed with anticipation and excitement, and the setting of course is superb. Is Burghley House, with all its turrets and minarets, the most beautiful stately home in England, in Europe, or in the whole world? Having seen it with all its windows lit up like fire in the light of the setting sun, I’m inclined to think that no house in the world could look more wonderful. And this year we had the added excitement of speculating on whether or not Andrew Hoy would become only the second rider in history to win eventing’s ultimate prize. Only one person, Pippa Funnell in 2003, has ever achieved the Grand Slam before.
Earlier this year Andrew won the Kentucky Rolex on Master Monarch and Badminton on Moonfleet. In Thursday’s dressage he soon took the lead on his faithful old friend Mr Pracatan, a workmanlike bay who is now 14 years old.
‘He’s never won a four-star,’ said Andrew, ‘but he’s got so much heart he’s a joy to ride, and I love him dearly.’
However this lead only lasted a couple of hours. Along came Andrew’s wife Bettina on her new coloured horse Peaceful Warrior, and snatched it off him with a dressage score of 37.2. Later that afternoon Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia forged ahead with 35.7.
‘I didn’t know I’d scored 10 for a flying change until afterwards!’ exclaimed a delighted Lucinda. ‘Jennie Loriston-Clarke (one of the judges) is still reeling from the shock of seeing the little pony she watched in yesterday’s trot-up transformed into a dressage superstar!”
In Friday’s dressage none came close to overtaking Lucinda and Brit, until husband Clayton entered the ring in the last session of the afternoon on his black Nullarbor and scored 38.3 in front of packed grandstands. Tension was mounting, because last to go was Andrew Hoy on the near-black thoroughbred Moonfleet. Their test was so fluent it looked unbeatable, and sure enough, Andrew took back the lead with one of the best scores ever, 31.7. That left a most interesting leader board, which looked like an exercise in marital compatibility. With Andrew back in the lead, his German wife Bettina lay in third place, while Lucinda was in second place with her husband Clayton lying fourth.
‘Is it a help or a hindrance to have your wife competing?’ Clayton was asked. ‘Its never annoying, but….’ he replied. ‘At time we really rely on each other. When I was warming up she and our trainer took turns in hurling abuse at me.’
Fifth was a horse from the USA, Jenga, ridden by Bonnie Mosser, and Andrew also lay in sixth place with Mr Pracatan. Two more Australian competitors tied for 7th place, Shane Rose on All Luck, and Matt Ryan on Bonza Katoomba, so the highest placed British riders were Ruth Edge on another mare, Marsh Mayfly and Lucy Wiegersma on Shaabrak, standing equal ninth.
‘I am a little disappointed in Ballincoola’s test. He was well all week, but is not at his best,’ said William Fox-Pitt, last year’s winner, after scoring 45.4 to lie in 13th place. ‘The atmosphere got to him a bit as he is a tense horse.’
‘How much extra tension is there with the Grand Slam at stake,’ was a question put to Andrew, who had clearly thought out his speeches to the media very carefully.
‘I’ve given six minutes of enjoyment to the crowd,’ he replied. ‘Now the media of the world want to know my opinions, which is very humbling. I’d like to be in first place when we go into the show jumping. As for the Grand Slam, it’s not just the money, it’s the watch as well!’ But he was basically philosophical. ‘We all came on equal scores. If I don’t win the Grand Slam, I haven’t lost because I never had it. If I thought of it any other way, I would only put too much pressure on myself.’
‘Moonfleet because very nervous when the crowd applauded. On the way to the arena he stopped, and I thought he was going to turn round and go back, until I persuaded him. You can never tell Moonfleet anything. He’s a personality you have to have a pleasant discussion with. I work with him, gently, gently, softly, softly, but he’s an amazing horse. ’
Captain Mark Phillips had prepared a demanding track for Saturday’s cross-country. ‘It’s real four-star test out there,’ commented Clayton Fredericks. With the roads, track and steeplechase phases gone in the first short-format Burghley, the first three fences, now in front of Burghley House, were relatively small, but by Fence 5 the problems began. However nothing stopped Andrew and Mr Pracatan, who went clear inside the time, a lead that they retained for most of the day.
‘I can’t say which of my horses the course will suit best until afterwards,’ Andrew had said the previous evening. ‘Both are very experienced four-star horses, but I have to ride then quite differently to achieve the same goal. I will get some information from Mr Pracatan, but don’t know how relevant it will be for Moonfleet. At Badminton in Huntsman’s Close, Mr Pracatan put in five strides, but Moonfleet only needed four.’
Bettina followed Andrew soon afterwards, but Peaceful Warrior’s bid to become the first ever skewbald with Appaloosa spots to win this event ended when he hit the huge grey lag goose at the Land Rover Splash, dunking both himself and Bettina in the water. Fortunately both horse and rider were unscathed except for some grazes from gravel at the bottom of the pond.
Lucinda and Brit had a dramatic time. Going clear in a good time, they were approaching Fence 20, the Pedigree Poser, which consisted of a set of sloping rails followed by two corners, all set at angles to each other on steep mounds. This turned out to be the most difficult fence on the course, causing grief to no less than ten competitors, as opposed to three at the most influential fence at this year’s Badminton. The rider before Lucinda was Tor Brewer on Highleadon, who was taking the circuitous alternative route before she fell off at the last element and lay winded. In Lucinda’s words:
‘The crowd on the left was shouting. I looked left and thought I had to stop. Then there were more screams on the right, and I saw a rider on the ground. No-one waved a flag at me and there was no-one there to direct me. I was talking to the crowds, but thinking: “OK. Who’s got my time?” Then they re-started us and Brit pinged over the top of the hill and flew.’
‘Lucinda was catching up, and the people in control were diverted by the need for a doctor and ambulance. She should have been stopped earlier, and no-one was happy that a mistake was made,’ said Mark Phillips afterwards. ‘There will be an inquest to get it right next year.’
Clayton Fredericks withdrew Nullarbor before cross-country, but Moonfleet, the last to go, maintained his lead with a clear round one second faster than Mr Pracatan’s, so, with Mr Pracatan still in second place, Andrew’s chances of the Grand Slam looked very good indeed. However, after the cross-country, officials were able to check the master tape, which records every round with the time on the screen. Lucinda’s time faults, originally calculated according to the judges’ stopwatches, were amended to 1.6, which raised her to second place in front of Mr Pracatan.
‘I’ve had a ride I’ll always remember,’ said Lucinda. ‘I’m totally grateful to Brit. She was pinging all the way around cross-country. I’m 40 and it’s taken me all this time to learn to ride a good cross-country round. Owners, riders and the many people who have telephoned me have all been very complimentary. Previously I haven’t had the greatest of horses, just the pleasure of going round.’
Another Australian rider, Shane Rose on All Luck, improved on his placing of equal seventh after dressage by incurring only 0.4 time penalties in a clear round, to put him in fourth place. The leading British combination was William Fox-Pitt with Ballincoola, who climbed to fifth place with a fast clear round.
‘How do you feel about the Australian domination?’ he was asked. ‘It’s not over yet!’ he replied. ‘And Ruth and Jeanette are close behind me.’
Ruth Edge and Marsh Mayfly went clear with 2.4 time penalties to improve to sixth, while Jeanette Brakewell on her evergreen eighteen-year-old Over To You put in a fast clear round to climb from 22nd place to seventh. Sam Griffiths from Australia, on Connigar Bay, and Cressida Clague-Reading, from Britain, on the grey Carousel Quest, went clear with only a few time penalties to improve from 18th and 17th to 8th and 9th, while in 10th place was the most successful combination from the USA, Rebecca Holder and another grey, Courageous Comet, who recorded 4.4 time penalties to rise from equal eleventh after dressage.
‘At the third fence on Moonfleet I saw a forward stride and thought ‘No!’ but we got there, said Andrew. ‘He just scraped over and I thought: “Good! That’s got his attention!” He’s not confident, but his elegance presents a beautiful picture.’
‘Apart from three little downhills, it’s uphill all the way to Winner’s Avenue. The course is very undulating and the tough terrain cannot be underestimated.’
In fact thirteen other fences besides the Pedigree Poser caused problems. The grey lag goose sitting on her nest in the water, with a model wildfowler about to take a shot at her, proved more difficult than last year when she was by the Lower Trout Hatchery. As well as Peaceful Warrior, Nabataean Treat fell, ending Joss Grey’s chances, and Autumn Market with Robert Stevens was eliminated for refusals.
Various others scraped awkwardly over the goose, including Marsh Mayfly, and first-timer Rosie Thomas on Barry’s Best.
‘No-one liked the goose in the water,’ said William Fox-Pitt. ‘it was either three or four strides, and if you didn’t do it on those strides, you sometimes didn’t get the angle you wanted, so it caused trouble.’
On the final day, the trot-up produced more tension when Mr Pracatan had to be held for re-inspection before he passed. When Young Thomas trotted up lame, Neil Fox, who had achieved his long-held ambition of jumping clear without time penalties across country, was the only competitor to be eliminated.
Of the fifty horses who reached the show jumping phase, only seven jumped clear. Mr Pracatan, jumping out of order, hit three fences to finally finish fifth, so one of Andrew’s Grand Slam chances had gone. Ballincoola hit two to finish sixth, and the most successful British horse, Carousel Quest, had four faults to finish fourth. As the competition approached its climax, All Luck jumped a wonderful clear round to take third place. When Headley Britannia also did so to finish no lower than second, Lucinda punched the air with triumph.
In came Andrew and Moonfleet for the Grand Slam. After Moonfleet hit the planks, Andrew’s dream was still within reach, with one fence in hand. But Moonfleet rattled fences, and two more fell to put the Grand Slam out of Andrew’s reach. An astounded Lucinda was the winner, on only the second mare ever to win Burghley. Tears glinted in Lucinda’s eyes when she was photographed with her trophy.
‘This is the third time the Australian National Anthem has been played for me, but the first time ever that I’ve appeared in press conferences on all four days,’ she said.
Mark Phillips and Lucinda Green told me Brit should come here, when I didn’t believe a win was possible. But a half-share in her has been for sale for some time, and now I hope she isn’t sold.’
The first mother to win Burghley for 10 years, she was accompanied by her little daughter Ellie, aged three. ‘I love her!’ said Lucinda emphatically.
Headley Britannia is a 13-year-old liver chestnut by Jumbo out of Alan’s Bambi. The previous mare to win Burghley was Maid Marion with Captain Mark Phillips in 1973.
‘I’ve never measured Brit but I think she’s 15.3, ‘ said Lucinda. There is nothing in front of you when she jumps, but I’ve got used to that. She’s a little girl, and chestnut, which everyone hates, but I love mares. I’ve had a lot of good mares, and I think we’ve nailed that prejudice!’
RESULTS.
1, Headley Britannia & Lucinda Fredericks (AUS), 37.3 penalties;
2, Moonfleet & Andrew Hoy (AUS), 43.7 penalties;
3, All Luck & Shane Rose (AUS), 43.9 penalties;
4 & Best British rider, Carousel Quest & Cressida Clague-Reading (GBR), 52.9 penalties;
5, Mr Pracatan & Andrew Hoy (AUS), 53.3 penalties;
6, Ballincoola & William Fox-Pitt (GBR), 53.4 penalties;
7=, Over To You & Jeanette Brakewell (GBR), 55.2 penalties;
7=, Connigar Bay & Sam Griffiths (AUS), 55.2 penalties;
9, Bonza Puzzle & Matt Ryan (AUS), 56.2 penalties;
10, Cashel Bay & Mary King (GBR), 57.9 penalties;
11, Jenga & Bonnie Mosser (USA), 59.3 penalties;
12, Burley Wood & Jeanette Brakewell (GBR), 59.8 penalties;
13, Henry Tankerville & Andrew Nicholson (NZL), 60.8 penalties;
14, Boherdeel Champion & Piggy French (GBR), 61.2 penalties;
15, Courageous Comet & Rebecca Holder (USA), 61.6 penalties;
16, Ava & Susanna Bordone (ITA), 62.0 penalties;
17, Marsh Mayfly & Ruth Edge (GBR), 62.5 penalties;
18=, Cermont & Matthew Wright (GBR), 63.0 penalties;
18=, Idalgo & William Fox-Pitt (GBR), 63.0 penalties;
20, Midnight Dazzler & Harry Meade (GBR), 65.3 penalties.