AUSTIN O’Connor’s Defender Burghley Horse Trials did not start as planned with the rider expressing disappointment with his dressage score.

Riding his Tokyo Olympic mount Colorado Blue, O’Connor went into today’s cross country phase on a dressage score of 34.9 and in joint 26th place.

Padraig McCarthy also scored 34.9 with the 12-year-old Anne Hughes-bred gelding HHS Noble Call (Heritage Fortunus x Cavalier Royale) who is owned by the rider, Alan Chaffe and James Chaffe.

“Sometimes things just don’t go to plan,” O’Connor wrote on social media.”Having warmed up the best he’s ever felt and having a super entrance and first medium trot, Salty then got something in his right ear that then meant he shook his head desperately trying to get whatever had gone in-out.

“Gutted doesn’t cut it. I have worked so so hard since Badminton... so to finish with a 34.9 is far from where we wanted to be. But the cross country plays a huge influence so we just have to put our best foot forward now and see how the competition plays out.”

His Irish-bred grey gelding by Jaguar Mail out of the Rock King mare Rock Me Baby was bred by Kate Jarvey at the Mellon Stud in Co Limerick and stormed around Badminton in May to help O’Connor become the first Irish rider in 40 years to make the podium in third.

The third Irish rider competing at Burghley, Sam Watson, achieved a score of 35.4 with Ballybolger Talisman (Puissance x Ali-Royal), putting them in 35th as they prepared to go across the country.

This 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding is owned by his wife Hannah and mother Julia, and bred by Rosemary Ponsonby.

Overnight leader

New Zealand’s Tim Price rocketed to the top of the leaderboard on Friday afternoon with the impressive dressage score of 18.7 with Vitali, on whom he finished third at the same event last year.

The pair were seventh at Badminton in May and Price certainly has the form to win as number one in the FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings.

Great Britain’s Oliver Townend was sitting in joint second with two of his horses, Swallow Springs (ISH) and Ballaghmor Class (ISH) on the exact same score of 24.2.

Tom McEwen lay in third on 25.6 with his Olympic silver medal ride Toledo de Kerser and Ros Canter was in fourth.