SIXTEEN years after she last won the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, Britain’s Pippa Funnell found herself holding the coveted winner’s plate once again, this time thanks to the Irish-bred five-star first-timer MGH Grafton Street.

On the final board, a mere 0.1 of a penalty separated Funnell, the dressage leader, from her European Championship teammate Piggy French, riding Trevor Dickens’ quirky 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Vanir Kamira (by the Belgian-bred stallion Camiro De Haar out of Fair Caledonian), winner of Badminton in the spring.

Just seven days earlier Funnell and French had celebrated securing a team silver medal in Luhmuhlen alongside Oliver Townend, who was also in the mix here despite suffering from a bulging slipped disk.

He finished third on his 2017 Burghley winner, Angela Hislop’s precociously talented ISH gelding Ballaghmor Class, by Courage out of Kilderry Place. By occupying third slot, the 12-year-old grey became the first event horse in history to finish in the top five at his first five five-star events.

Many eventing luminaries were conspicuous by their absence from Burghley 2019, including Mark Todd, whose sparkling career was marked by an emotional retirement ceremony in the main arena.

For the first time in many years, Ireland failed to field a single competitor for fans to cheer. The only entrant, Tony Kennedy and his one-eyed Westeria Lane, rerouted to the Europeans after an 11th hour call up.

Incredible Irish-bred result

However, Irish equines more than made up for the human absences, with an incredible seven in the final top 10. Apart from the top trio, event pathfinder Bango, the ride of New Zealand’s Tim Price finished in fifth; Brits Imogen Murray and Gemma Tattersall’s Ivar Gooden and Santiago Bay were sixth and seventh respectively; while Leamore Master Plan, the ride of America’s Ariel Grald, was 10th.

Funnell’s 11-year-old ride, by OBOS Quality and, according to the rider, possibly out of a Thoroughbred racing mare, is now owned by Jane and Jonathan Clarke. Bred in Co Tipperary by Martin Collins, he was sourced in Ireland and brought to Britain by world silver medallist Padraig McCarthy and his wife Lucy Wiegersma for their MGH Sport Horses business.

The couple commenced Grafton Street’s eventing campaign, but he eventually found his way into Andrew Nicholson’s Wiltshire stable during 2015.

“I saw him tied to Andrew’s lorry and asked if he was for sale. I had a working pupil looking for a horse and I loved his cheeky expression,” said Funnell. “He wasn’t on the market at the time, but after Andrew had his accident at Gatcombe the owner called me.

“By then my student had found a horse, but I’d just retired Billy Landretti and Jane and Jonathan had said that they would get involved again if the right horse came along.

“Grafton Street hasn’t been plain sailing. Like some other OBOS (Quality) horses, he’s a little on the shoulder, but dressage judges tend to see what I first saw and they usually like him,” the delighted winner added.

“Across country he’s had the odd blip, usually due to balance issues, plus he’s a comedian, so I started the Burghley track thinking I’m going to be so on him that he isn’t able to have the last laugh.”

Even Funnell admitted that her cross-country round was “far from pretty”, but Burghley 2019 was exceptionally tough and following Saturday’s cross-country phase only 33 horses remained in the competition, the other 34 either withdrawn (three), retired (11), or eliminated (20).

Tough cross-country

Mark Phillips’ penultimate cross-country course at this venue (he retires after next year’s event to be replaced by Tokyo designer Derek di Grazia) came in for criticism on social media for producing “ugly pictures”.

In his defence, Phillips commented: “I’ve always been told to make Burghley Burghley. We had a weakened field and it showed. Was it too hard? What pleased me was that we saw every fence ridden well… so in my heart of hearts I don’t feel that I made it too hard. If you have to lower the five-star level because of the field, I’m not sure that’s what the sport’s about.”

Phillips thought that there must have been a record number of triggerings of MIM/frangible devices, and he added: “It was a wonderful day for frangible technology. At the end of it, no rider or horse got hurt.”

One place where the technology was found wanting, however, was at the angled Land Rover at the Lake gates (fence 16), where the pins failed to trigger and there were worrying rotational falls for Eliza Stoddart and Priorspark Opposition Free, and Buck Davidson, whose mount Jak My Style, rolled on him after rotating over the second element.

Burghley 2019 was often about luck — good and bad. Defending champions Tim Price and Ringwood Sky Boy, lying ninth, were looking set for a swift clear when the horse lost his footing in the final water. MGH Grafton Street had earlier made a similar mistake, cutting his mouth in the process.

But in this case he stayed upright to give Funnell another popular victory here, once she, French and Townend had all rolled one pole each in a tense show jumping finale.

The 50-year-old Surrey-based rider had earlier claimed that it was surely a lucky omen that she was drawn number 77 – the same number as worn by Tilly, the character in her children’s books – and she wasn’t wrong.