After a tough cross country day at Burghley, Tim Price and Vitale are still in the lead going into show jumping, although they added eight time penalties to their score, leaving them without even a rail in hand for tomorrow. The leaderboard changed considerably, with several top competitors experiencing problems. Oliver Townend had a rein break during his first ride, on Tregilder, and retired Swallow Springs. He remains in second place on Ballaghmor Class. Tom McEwen pulled up Toledo de Kerser after the horse took some lame steps. Ros Canter, who sat in fifth place, took a fall from Pencos Crown Jewel, but walked off the course without injury.

On the flip side, a few riders saw significant improvements in their standings. Wills Oakden moved up 33 and 23 places on his rides to sit in the top 10 (Oughterard Cooley is fourth and Arklow Puissance sits in 10th). One truly impressive ride came from 21 year old Alice Casburn on her homebred Topspin, who climbed from 37th to 13th. Her ride was smooth and flawless.

Of course anything can happen in show jumping, especially with the scores so tightly bunched. It’s bound to be exciting.