Lausanne (SUI),16 October 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) showed the amazing strength of his horsepower when his exciting young horses Oslo and Lionheart finished first and third at Les Etoiles des Pau (FRA), the final leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2011.
However, it was the unstoppable Mary King (GBR) who claimed the 150,000 USD prize, the biggest single award in Eventing, as HSBC FEI Classics champion for 2011. She clinched the title with a magnificent clear Jumping round on Imperial Cavalier, which elevated her six places to fourth.
King has been placed no lower than eighth at all five of the HSBC FEI Classics events this year, which is a remarkable achievement. She is the first woman to win the title since the series started in 2008 and has kept it in British hands for the fourth consecutive year.
Christopher Burton on Holstein Park Leilani in the lead into Jumping at HSBC FEI Classics in Pau. Image: Kit Houghton/FEI
Lausanne (SUI),15 October 2011 – Christopher Burton (AUS) produced a great Cross Country performance on Holstein Park Leilani to keep his Dressage lead at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), final leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2011, but he has no margin for error in tomorrow’s Jumping phase as one fence covers the top eight riders and a nail-biting finale is guaranteed for tomorrow.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) was masterful in steering all three of his horses around inside the optimum time to finish in the top 10, with the two nine-year-olds, Oslo and Lionheart, second and sixth, and Macchiato ninth.
Clayton Fredericks (AUS), the joint Dressage leader, accrued 1.2 time penalties on Bendigo, the horse competing in his first CCI4*, to drop to third. The Ground Jury took 0.8 penalties off his original score after he protested that a steward raking the ground had forced him to take avoiding action.
Lausanne (SUI),14 October 2011 – Australian riders head the leaderboard after Dressage at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the final leg of the 2011 HSBC FEI Classics, which has attracted its most competitive field yet – 69 riders representing 17 nations.
Clayton Fredericks, currently ninth in the HSBC FEI Classics, and his compatriot Christopher Burton, who is making his first visit to this popular event at the foot of the Pyrenees, are in equal first place on 43.7 penalties apiece.
Fredericks, whose last CCI4* victory was at Rolex Kentucky in 2007, is riding the 11-year-old Bendigo lll, the winner of Saumur CCI3* this year but a debutant at this level. Burton rides the experienced Holstein Park Leilani, winner of Adelaide CCI4* in 2008.
“Bendigo felt really rideable today,” commented Fredericks, who will be able to get an early feel of tomorrow’s Cross Country on his first ride, the mare Laurent Dunges Rose, on which he is lying 27th on 54.0 penalties.
William Fox-Pitt claims record sixth Burghley win. Images: FEI
Lausanne (SUI), 11 October 2011 – Two British riders, long-time team mates and friends, will do battle for the HSBC FEI Classics 2011 top spot this weekend (13-16 October) at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), which is also the 2012 season opener.
Athletes from 17 nations will compete at the popular CCI4* in the shadow of the Pyrenees, where they have the unique opportunity to secure points for the 2012 season which for the first time includes Australia’s premier event, the Adelaide International Horse Trials (18-20 November).
HSBC FEI Classics 2011 – closely fought battle
Only series leader Mary King (GBR) or compatriot William Fox-Pitt can win this year’s HSBC FEI Classics and with just 13 points between them it will be an intense finale.
Fox-Pitt, who won the HSBC FEI Classics in 2008 and 2010, can only beat King if he wins and she finishes lower than eighth. So while he heads into Pau as the world number one in the HSBC Rankings – this time 13 points ahead of Mary and with the prospect of receiving the 50,000 USD bonus – he is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to become Series Champion and has taken advantage of Pau’s decision to allow riders to compete with three horses.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) made history with a record sixth Burghley victory when winning on Parklane Hawk with just a single Jumping time penalty to add to his Dressage score. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI.
4 September 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) earned a standing ovation from the rain-soaked crowd as he clinched a record sixth title at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.
Fox-Pitt showed all his famous finesse and calmness as he conjured a clear round with just one time fault on the sodden ground from Catherine Witt’s Parklane Hawk, an 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred by Grosvenor.
He has now beaten the five Burghley victories apiece for Ginny Elliot (GBR) and Mark Todd (NZL), and has equalled Lucinda Green’s (GBR) Badminton record of six wins on six different horses.
“This ranks as one of the best achievements of my life,” said a visibly emotional Fox-Pitt afterwards.
“I pretend to look relaxed, but deep down this really matters to me. It’s such an honour to win six times and to be among such legends as Mark, Ginny and Lucinda – and Mark’s still going, so perhaps he’ll beat me next time!
“I can’t believe what’s happened today. The horse was superb because the conditions were against us. I’m so lucky to have him to ride.”
Lausanne (SUI), 3 September 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) has 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.
The day was a spectacle of bold riding and flying horses, and Fox-Pitt gave an early masterclass on the New Zealand former racehorse Parkland Hawk, winner of the Blenheim CCI3* last year but short on mileage this year.
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.”
Fox-Pitt, who warns that Jumping is Parklane Hawk’s weakest phase, cannot afford an error in tomorrow’s Jumping phase, for the cost of a single rail covers the first four horses after Cross-Country.
“I’m going to enjoy the moment because anything could happen tomorrow,” he said.
New Zealanders Andrew Nicholson, on Avebury, and last year’s winner Caroline Powell on the foot-perfect veteran Lenamore are second and third, ahead of HSBC FEI Classics leader Mary King on her home-bred mare Kings Temptress.
Simone Deitermann (GER) and Free Easy NRW took a slender lead after Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Photo: Kate Houghton/FEI.
Lausanne (SUI), 2 September 2011 – Simone Deitermann (GER) and Free Easy NRW are well known for their ability in the Dressage arena, but the German rider still said it felt “amazing” to be in the lead on her first visit to the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.
“My horse was quite nervous,” she explained, “and he is not used to performing on a grass arena.”
Despite that, an excellent performance resulted in a score of 39.3 penalties, just 0.4 ahead of the first-day leader William Fox-Pitt (GBR) on Parklane Hawk.
Deitermann, 30, who was 12th at Badminton last year, missed out on the thrilling German domination at the HSBC FEI European Championships last weekend because she and Free Easy NRW had experienced problems in the build-up, including a fall at Bramham CCI3* (GBR).
“This is my chance to qualify for the London Olympic Games,” explained Deitermann, who was third after Dressage at the FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games in Kentucky last year before suffering a Cross Country fall at the last fence.
She has walked the Cross Country at Burghley with German team trainer Chris Bartle and says: “It is beautiful, but I think it will be quite tough for me.”
William Fox-Pitt (GBR), the new world number one in the HSBC Rankings, heads the field after the first day of Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI.
Lausanne (SUI), 1 September 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR), the new world number one, is on top again, this time at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), the second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics, where he leads after the first day of Dressage on a mark of 39.7.
Fox-Pitt (GBR), who is wearing the special armband as leader of the HSBC Rankings, has posted the only sub-40 mark so far on his first ride, Catherine Witt’s 11-year-old Parklane Hawk, winner of the Blenheim CCI3* (GBR) last year.
The British pair led Andrew Nicholson (NZL) and the attractive grey Avebury by 2.3 penalties. Elizabeth Power (IRL) and the ex-racehorse Kilpatrick River, back in action after their fall at Badminton (GBR) in May and making their debut at Burghley, are third. Mary King (GBR), current leader in the HSBC FEI Classics, is fourth on Apache Sauce.
Fox-Pitt, who has been penalised for one error of course, halting at the wrong marker, described scoring in the 30s as a “psychological boost”. He says of the New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred by Grosvenor: “He has a superb brain and a lovely trot. He’s all the things you dream about in a horse.”
Fox-Pitt, Nicholson and King, who have decades of experience at Burghley between them, are viewing with interest the new-look Cross Country course, designed by Mark Phillips (GBR) to have a more traditional look in honour of the event’s 50th birthday.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) has overtaken team mate Mary King at the head of the HSBC Rankings. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI.
Lausanne (SUI), 1 September 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) has taken over from team mate Mary King as world number one in the HSBC Rankings. The British rider, who is competing at the second last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials this week, is now seven points clear of King and will be wearing the HSBC armband at Burghley.
Both Fox-Pitt and King were part of the British team that secured bronze at the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships in Luhmühlen (GER) last weekend, but King failed to finish after a Cross Country fall.
Newly crowned European champion Michael Jung, who picked up team and individual gold in Luhmühlen, has moved up from ninth to fifth in the HSBC Rankings behind Andrew Nicholson (NZL) and Piggy French (GBR) who remain in third and fourth.
Mary King was the first rider to wear the new HSBC armband when it was launched at the beginning of July this year. She remained out in front last month before being overtaken by Fox-Pitt in the new rankings published today. The rider at the top of the HSBC Rankings at the end of the 2011 Eventing season will receive a 50,000 USD bonus.
Lausanne (SUI), 19 June 2011 – Andreas Dibowski, a valuable member of Germany’s teams for many years, was at his consistent best in a tense finale at Luhmühlen, presented by E.ON Avacon (GER), and seized victory with a flawless Jumping round on Euroridings Butts Leon to gain his first points in the 2011 HSBC FEI Classics.
“I have been riding here for 22 years, so the pressure to win was building,” said Dibowski. “Nowadays, it is so close at the top of the sport that you cannot allow mistakes. The Jumping course was well built, but asked enough questions, as it should in the modern sport.
“We haven’t had the best weather this weekend, but we have had the very best conditions, thanks to the new all-weather arenas. It is important that the first rider to go gets the same conditions as the very last.”
Dibowski, who has indicated that he may take his Luhmühlen winning ride to Burghley (GBR) in September, shoots into fourth place in the HSBC FEI Classics, in which the top five riders at five CCI4*s will share a prize pool of US$330,000. Dibowski is now in behind Mary King (GBR), whose eighth place at Luhmühlen on the gallant Apache Sauce gave her a few extra points, Piggy French (GBR), fourth, and Badminton winner Mark Todd (NZL).
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