Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. Photo by 1st Class Images.Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent strolled to victory in the Holme Dodsworth Metals CCI4*-S at Burgham International Horse Trials, supported by Project Pony Olivers seventh win in Burghams feature class in the past decade.Oliver added four faults for one showjump down to his leading dressage score of 19.8 on Paul and Diana Ridgeons 10-year-old grey mare, but still topped the 104-strong class going into cross-country. The pair, who won the Kentucky CCI5* in May, made light work of David Evanss cross-country course and galloped home clear and inside the time allowed to hold off second-placed Wills Oakden (Keep It Cooley) by 3.1 penalties.Shropshire-based Oliver, 41, was part of Britains Olympic gold medal-winning team at Tokyo 2021. He plans to take the Valent-sired Cooley Rosalent to Defender Burghley Horse Trials next, and will hope to notch up his third victory at the Lincolnshire CCI5*.He said: Rosie is probably one of the best horses Ive had in all three phases and she makes it all feel very easy. The mistake in the showjumping was my mistake, not hers, but she jumped very well and it is all well within her comfort zone.You dont ever feel like youre going really quick on her across country; she covers the ground very nicely, and if you need to shorten, her stride still remains very quick, which is what makes her fast. And shes not strong at all shes as easy a horse as Ive had to ride across country.Its lovely up here at Burgham; the team do a great job and they make everything as comfortable as possible for the riders, the horses and the owners. The ground is always safe here and we love using it for a preparation run for Burghley.Wills, who is based in Perthshire, was delighted with Geoff and Elspeth Adams nine-year-old Ramiro B gelding, who added nothing to his dressage mark of 26.9.He said: Im so pleased for Geoff and Elspeth Adam. They bought Michael coming into this season and they have been fantastic people to work for. Theyve been very patient and understanding Its his first season at CCI4* and we think a lot of him, and havent wanted to rush him. Theyve given me space, theyve given me time and theyve given me support. Its been brilliant, and its fantastic to reward them with days like this, and hopefully there are many more to come.Hes just a super horse to work with. He always wants to give you his best, he always wants to learn, and hes a horse you can be seriously competitive on. We have a real emotional connection with him, so I hope he keeps improving and takes us to where we want to get to.In third place for the second year running were Emily King and Valmy Biats. Emily finished on her dressage score of 27.6 on her own, Phillipe Brivois and the Valmy Biats Syndicates French-bred 15-year-old.Action at Burgham continues on Sunday with the jumping phases of the NIS Group Services Ltd CCI2*-S, plus British Eventing classes, a Thoroughbred and Ex-Racehorse Show and great fun for families, friends and children. In the afternoon in the Burgham Park Arena, there will be dog agility, hobby horsing and the dog show.Burgham also features great tradestands and lots of delicious, locally-produced food and drink and public bars. It is situated in beautiful, tranquil Northumbrian countryside not far from the A1 between Morpeth and Alnwick.Visitwww.burghaminternationalhorsetrials.co.ukto find out more and to buy tickets.All four days of cross-country from Burgham Thursday, 25 July to Sunday, 28 July are being livestreamed on ClipMyHorse.tv visitwww.clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/to watch.Burgham International (Northumberland) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Scoring]