Shropshire-based Oliver Townend insists he will ride to win this weekend – despite his comfortable position in the HSBC FEI Classics series.

Townend leads the HSBC finale – Les Etoiles de Pau – going into today’s cross-country test.

He also has a 12-point advantage in the overall series from his Great Britain team-mate William Fox-Pitt, who lies eighth in the Pyrenees.

Fox-Pitt must win, or at worst finish second, tomorrow to have any chance of denying Duddleston Heath-based Townend a £92,000 winner’s purse as HSBC champion.

Townend, though – winner at Badminton and Burghley this year – intends to leave the issue in no doubt.

“I will be aiming for top spot,” he said.

“I don’t believe there is any point in changing the way you ride just because of the position you are in.

“It is a tough course all the way around. It’s a serious course – a true four-star test.

“I would be concerned about a few of the fences; the ‘houses into the water’ is a very serious question (fences 20-22), and a lot of the combinations are all on distance and accuracy.

“It will be a long watching day tomorrow (Townend goes 33rd of the 35-strong field), but I am in a good position.”

Townend recorded a dressage score of 42.5, more than five points ahead of eighth-placed Fox-Pitt.

German rider Andreas Dibowski is hovering on Townend’s shoulder. But as at Burghley, the 26-year-old has taken charge from the outset.

“I am very pleased – he was good out there today,” added Townend.

“He is as well, as fit and and as strong as he has ever been. He is really on form.

“He’s a top-class horse – and as long as you get him right in the brain, the buttons are there. You just have to press them.”