Lordships Graffalo has put himself firmly into the category of ‘Greatest Of All Time’ after carrying Ros Canter to a second consecutive Defender Burghley victory this afternoon.
In doing so, the 13-year-old gelding owned by Archie and Michele Saul becomes the first horse in history to win twice both here and at Mars Badminton Horse Trials.
The pair were also team Olympic gold medallists (at the Paris 2024 Games) and European Champions (team and individual in 2023).
The horse’s stellar career ranks him up there with the likes of Michael Jung’s La Biosthetique-Sam FBW and Mark Todd’s Charisma.
“I hope he’ll go down as a legend of our time and a legend of the sport in total,” said Ros, “not only for the performances he gives, but for his character as well.
“He’s an unbelievable horse to have at home and he thrives on these occasions.
“An overriding emotion is relief at the moment that I’ve managed to put it off again.
“Every time I go out on Walter on an occasion like this, the pressure builds because I know one day I won’t be perfect and he won’t have my back at some point because he won’t be able to.
“I’m just so grateful to him for the most unbelievable experiences that myself, my team, my owners get to have with him.
“He is a horse of a lifetime and hopefully a horse of a lot of people’s lifetime too — and an inspiration to many.”
Sitting in a portaloo
In between helping US rider Cassie Sanger prepare for her showjumping round and mounting Walter, Ros spent some time sitting in a portaloo.
“I’ve been helping Cassie this afternoon, so I had all my kit ready and as soon as she went in [to the arena] I went into a portaloo, which smelt lovely, and put my earphones in and tried to drown everything out,” said Ros.
“I sat on the toilet for a few minutes, making sure that I remembered who I was riding and exactly how I want to ride him.
“I’m not entirely sure I remembered it all, but hopefully enough to have made it look okay.”
Feeling the pressure
Cassie has been based with Ros this season and finished best of the first timers in 17th.
Having her here helped to keep Ros’ mind off the pressure, she said.
“Often when I’m here I’ve had young event horses on the Friday or I’ve had a test [to practise] for a championship, or I’ve had a second horse,” said Ros. “It’s the first time in a long time I’ve only had one horse.
“This is my last event, I’m now finished for the season, so to have Cassie here has been good.
“You always wish for more time to be part of the general public and go shopping, but the reality is when you’re here doing a job you can’t focus on it anyway.”
‘It’s a big deal announcing a pregnancy’
Ros recently announced that she is expecting her second child and would not be in the running for European Championship selection, choosing to bring Walter to Burghley instead.
“It’s a big deal announcing a pregnancy when in the back of your mind you might be coming to an event like this,” she confessed.
“It was a necessity for me because everyone was going to know that I wasn’t selected [for the Europeans].
“I can’t believe that I haven’t had a single person that said, ‘what are you doing?’
“I’ve had a few people say are you sure and be careful, which isn’t always the best thing to hear just before you’re starting a big competition, but on the whole I’ve had nothing but huge support.
“I think everybody just wants to get an opportunity to see Walter again.”
Ros hopes to be back at Badminton with Walter in the spring.
“You never know with childbirth, it can throw all sorts of spanners in the works, but I’m really hoping the plan is to be at Badminton next year,” she confirmed.
Convincing margin
Ros and Walter finished a convincing nine penalties clear of Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, who posted Ireland’s highest Burghley placing since 1966 when finishing second.
Harry Meade piloted Cavalier Crystal and Annaghmore Valoner into third and fourth respectively.
Full report with picture gallery to follow.
Main image by Tim Wilkinson
