Kiwi eyes history at Burghley trials
This course frames the best of Central Otago’s craggy views with a tailored golfing landscape. It presents the sort of lush vista where even marauding pukeko appear to have signed contracts requiring them to defecate in the rough Some residents on the western side of Auckland’s Peach Parade and Ladies’ Mile can enjoy race meetings from the comfort of home without turning on the telly. Armed with the Herald racing section, a TAB account, a phone or internet connection and a pair of field glasses they can watch thoroughbreds and jockeys vie for supremacy live from their back doorsteps. Throw in a cranked-up barbecue, a chilly bin, a couple of successful trips to the cyber tote and a handful of mates and you’ve got a raging knees-up.
rather than on the fairways.
Locals estimate a decent set of binoculars – or possibly a Hubble telescope – might secure a gander at how players are faring on holes 7,8, 9, 11 and 12 if you happen to have friends or family living on Cotter Ave. Andrew Nicholson will seek a piece of New Zealand equestrian history at the Burghley horse trials this month.
The annual four-star event runs from August 31 to September 3.
Nicholson is chasing what would be a record-equalling sixth title. If successful, the 56-year-old would become the first New Zealander — and fifth rider — to win Badminton and Burghley in the same calendar year.
He hopes to complete the feat on 17-year-old mount Nereo. The pair became the oldest horse and the oldest rider to win Badminton in May, capitalising on what might be regarded as a telepathic relationship.
Nicholson recovered from a broken neck in August 2015 but his passion for the reins remained obvious after securing his ninth four-star title. His CV also includes triumphs at Burghley, Kentucky, Pau and Luhmuhlen, alongside three Olympic and three World Games medals.
Burghley encapsulates everything Nicholson loves about England, his adopted home.
“It’s held at the end of summer, people are out having picnics on the course, and you think ‘this is why we do it’. It’s a bit further from home so we stay in the lorry park and, in some ways, it’s a bit of downtime as well.
“It’s a big competition but a relaxed atmosphere. When you’re competing it’s full-on, but it’s easy to get away from it.”
That is evident in Nicholson’s results. He has completed Burghley more times than anyone – 35 — notching five wins, six seconds and five thirds. No rider and horse can match the three titles won by Nicholson and the late Avebury in 2012, 2013 and
2014, although he and Nereo have completed
It’s a big competition but a relaxed atmosphere. When you’re competing it’s full-on, but it’s easy to get away from it. Andrew Nicholson
three seconds in 2011, 2013 and 2016. Rival William Fox-Pitt has won six times but Nicholson’s five place him level with Sir Mark Todd and Virginia Elliott (ne´e Holgate). “Nereo’s not getting any younger and Burghley’s a place he finds hard work,” Nicholson said. “It’s undulating terrain which is hard for a big, longstriding horse.
“He’s had one run at Barbury [since Badminton] where he finished a superb second. Nereo did everything he had to. “He was behind an outstanding new horse on the block [Upsilon] who was beautifully ridden [by Frenchman Thomas Carlile]. I would be surprised if they don’t become European champions in a couple of weeks.” Recent summer rain in Nicholson’s home county of Wiltshire has softened the ground more than usual, allowing Nereo to stay fit with regular practice gallops. “There’s more grass than you can imagine in most countries during summer.”