Burghley buzz Veteran Levett can’t wait for showpiece event
HE MAY have been on the eventing circuit for the past 20 years but Australian eventer Bill Levett insists the thrill of riding at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials will never get old.
The Chipping Campden-based 2014 World Equestrian Games rider will be competing in the CCI fourstar event for the sixth time on horses Improvise and Lassban Diamond Lift, later this month.
The two will be among 100 horses taking to Lincolnshire for one of six four-star events in the world, a level that eclipses that of the Olympic Games.
The three-day event will see Levett compete across dressage, cross country and show jumping disciplines, with his wealth of Burghley experience looking set to be a key factor in any potential success.
“Burghley is great for the owners because there is an atmosphere and a sense of occasion” he said.
“For the rider it is a challenge of taking on a cross country course of that difficulty and figuring out how you are going to get around it.
“The organisers always make the riders feel very welcome and appreciated. As riders we feel it is a good place to ride.
“Improvise picked up a knee
injury in Ireland recently, so there has been a bit of a break in his preparation.
“He is going to run at a few other weekends at smaller competitions to get him back into the groove, but I am looking forward to getting him back round.”
While Improvise is no stranger to the Gland Slam stage, 55-year-old Levett has high hopes for Lassban Diamond Lift who enters the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials off the back of a string of impressive finishes.
He expects the 10-year-old chestnut Gelding, who finished third at Bramham and Tattersalls CCI three-star and 15th at Chatsworth International, to impress again.
But he’ll have to do so in a starstudded field, with Burghley attracting the world’s best riders as well as 160,000 spectators each year,.
“Lassban is the sort of horse that has enough ability to finish in the top three,” he added.
“He is for my money a real Burghley
horse. He has a lot of stamina and a lot of speed.
“He will be the first horse that I have taken for a long time that has all the attributes which give you the chance to be a real Burghley horse.”
The multi-award-winning Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials from August 30 – September 2 has been established as a major international equestrian and social event in the Autumn Sporting Calendar for over 50 years. For more information visit burghley-horse.co.uk