EQUESTRIAN: Fredericks boosted by Burghley (From Wiltshire Times)

EQUESTRIAN: Fredericks boosted by Burghley

11:58am Monday 6th September 2010 in Sport

DEVIZES eventer Clayton Fredericks vowed to use his podium finish at the Burghley Horse Trials as a springboard to better things after trumping some of the best in the business in Lincolnshire, writes HOWARD LLOYD.

The 42-year-old Little Cheverell-based Australian has been one of the mainstays of the iconic event, but last year’s fifth-place finish was the closest he had come to a piece of silverware.

Fredericks looked set to miss out on a top three finish again at the four-star competition – which doubled up as the penultimate round of the HSBC FEI Classics series – after incurring 45.8 penalty points to sit ninth after the dressage.

But after storming round the notoriously difficult cross-country course inside the time and jumping clear in the pressurised show jump final, Fredericks and Be My Guest II clinched third spot.

“Third is my best result at Burghley so it means a great deal,” said Fredericks. “I’ve been in the UK for 17 years now and I went to Burghley as one of my very early competitions and it has taken me a long time to learn how to ride round this track.

“All comes to those who wait and keep working so hopefully in a couple of years I might be at the top step of the podium.

“I spent a little bit of time in the lorry to calm myself down because I was a little nervous and it was very tight at the top.

“But once I got on the horse and jumped a few fences and felt she was really jumping the nerves had just turned to confidence and I think we jumped a great round.”

There was no such luck for double Olympic medallist Andrew Nicholson though, with the Lockeridge-based New Zealander finishing 14th on Armada and 22nd on Avebury.

And despite admitting his Burghley adventure was far from his finest hour, Nicholson vowed to bounce back to form at Blenheim this weekend before going for gold at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky later this month.

“I haven’t really had a good Burghley to be honest with you,” said Nicholson.

“I’ve got Blenheim so I’ll have Monday, Tuesday and half of Wednesday off. The horses need a look-over too and then we’ll see where we are.

“I’ve got the World Championships to go to as well, then a few other tournaments in France and eventually Pau in France, so it will be very busy, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Elsewhere Marlborough’s Laura Collett finished 30th on Ginger May Killinghurst, while Hinton's Alexander Peternell was eliminated during the cross-country round.

And after sitting third in the dressage after the opening day and successfully steering her mount around the taxing Burghley course on day three, Collett admitted he owed a debt of gratitude to near neighbour Nicholson.

“Andrew Nicholson had her before me and he really quickened her up because he rides them very fast and so that was what she was used to,” said Collett.

“I had been trying to work on her breaking but he just told me to let her go because she knows what she’s doing so that is what I did and it worked well.”

The HSBC FEI Classics™ unites the top end of the international eventing circuit - namely the five four-star competitions across the world. The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is the penultimate event in the HSBC FEI Classics™.

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