‘I screamed and told him how much I love him’: British rider leads the way after thrilling day of cross-country at Burghley

Home / Burghley Horse Trials / ‘I screamed and told him how much I love him’: British rider leads the way after thrilling day of cross-country at Burghley

Gemma Stevens and the 12-year-old Chilli Knight (pictured top) lead the 2026 Defender Burghley Horse Trials after a superb day of cross-country day.

The British pair were one of only a handful to finish inside the 11min 20sec optimum time, completing the 6,455m track in 11min 17sec to retain their dressage score of 29.6 – they jumped one place up after the dressage.

Derek di Grazia’s 28-fence track was set at 570m/min, with an optimum time of 11min 20sec, and the time proved a significant challenge – Holly Richardson and Ballyneety Silver Service were the first combination to make it inside the time, stopping the clock at 11min 18sec, before Gemma matched the feat at 11min 17sec.

“It honestly felt like a rollercoaster,” said Gemma. “This way round is so up and down – it just feels like you’re constantly climbing or going downhill, round a corner to another humongous fence, round a corner to another humongous combination. It’s relentless.”

She spent much of the track chasing the clock.

“I kept being down on my minutes, and I was like, ‘I’m never going to get the time.’ Then I managed to claw it back, and then I was down on the next one, and I clawed it back again.”

The biggest scare came at the Holland Cooper Leaf Pit, where Chilli Knight and Gemma disagreed on their take-off stride.

“He just said, ‘It’s okay, I’ve got you – I’m just going to try my hardest’ – and I screamed and told him how much I love him,” Gemma said. “I’m really sorry to all the people down at the Leaf Pit, because there was a lot of swearing – and then a lot of telling him how much I loved him on landing.

“He should never have jumped that fence. I don’t know how he did it – unbelievable.”

Chilli Knight is only around 16hh, but Gemma believes this horse, who is bred and owned by Christopher and Lisa Stone, has a different mentality when confronted by a five-star fence.

“He never stops trying. When he gets to a big one, he grows a pair of wings – this whole new little man comes out.”

New Zealand’s Tim Price produced the first completed round of the day on Global Quest but finished 12 seconds over the time, adding 4.8 penalties to finish on 36.9.

Butler serves up

Holly Richardson and Ballyneety Silver Service

Britain’s Holly Richardson’s performance on her first ride was particularly noteworthy. The diminutive grey Ballyneety Silver Service – who is known as ‘Butler’ at home – stopped the clock just two seconds inside the optimum, producing the first clear inside the time and moving Holly from 28th after dressage to third on 38.3.

“I just sat down with the plan and stuck to it,” Holly said. “He just kept answering the question perfectly.

“You don’t really have time to think about it – you just start thinking about the next fence as soon as you land over the one before.”

‘Nothing compares to this’

Tim Price’s second-place finish on Global Quest was one of the day’s most impressive performances. The 13-year-old was making his first appearance at Burghley and added just 4.8 time penalties to his dressage score of 32.1.

“I am so happy with him,” Tim said. “We’ve done a couple of five-stars, but nothing compares to a track or a place like this.”

Global Quest, who is owned by Diana and Lance Morrish, looked every inch the professional throughout his round.

“He had all those elements that I just discovered today – helping me when the going gets tough, growing another leg, taking a big distance like it’s nothing.”

The Leaf Pit provided another example of how quickly things can change.

“He just launched the brush at the bottom of the Leaf Pit, which was unexpected,” Tim said. “It made the next stride incredibly short. It was five seconds of messiness, but the other 11 minutes were super.”

Katie’s big climb and Caroline’s contrasting day

Katie Magee also produced a strong performance with Treworra, adding 2.4 time penalties to her dressage score of 36.2. The pair finished fourth on 38.6.

“‘Wilf is a true five-star cross-country horse – brave, polite and powerful,” said Katie. “He covers the ground without a fight, looks for the flags and really wants to do it for me.”

Caroline Pamukcu, meanwhile, retained fifth place with HSH Blake on 40. Her eight time penalties were considerably more manageable than the problems encountered earlier in the day on her first horse, HSH Tolan King, who she retired at the Trout Hatchery.

HSH Blake proved once again how classy he is – they had a blip when unseating at the recent eventing World Championships, but prior to that, they finished runners-up in the five-star at the Kentucky Three-Day Event this spring.

“With Blake I probably went too slow for the first three minutes, and then I had to pick up the pace,” said Caroline. “But he’s unreal. He just tolerated everything.”

An admiration of Toblerone

Dressage leader Nadja Minder and 19-year-old Toblerone had the unenviable task of going out knowing that anything other than finishing within the optimum time would put Gemma Stevens ahead.

Twenty-six-year-old Nadja and ‘Choccy’ jumped clear, but the clock proved too tricky to catch, and they added 13.2 penalties, dropping them from first to sixth on 42.7.

Nadja was honest about the effort required.

“He’s such a five-star warrior now. It was hard work – I had to use a bit of kicking and elbows and everything to make it happen.”

Yet her admiration for this veteran was undiminished.

“He’s incredible how he’s not intimidated by anything – he just pricks his ears, looks for the flags, front feet up, back feet up, and on we go.”

‘The complete syllabus’

Harry Meade, who retired his first ride Et Hop du Matz after a problem at the Defender Dairy Mound, then later produced a strong round on Cavalier Crystal. They came into this event as one of the favourites, and after a disappointing first phase score, which left them in 31st, a strong clear cross-country jumping round, where they picked up six time-faults, now puts them in seventh going into the final phase.

“Burghley for me is the real deal in every sense,” Harry said. “You’ve got the terrain, you’ve got the size of the fences, you’ve got the technicality of the course. It’s just the complete syllabus.

“I felt that I rode like an absolute lemon on my first horse, and really let my horse down. I just stupidly didn’t stick to my instincts.”

Harry admitted he has a mental reset before his second ride aboard Cavalier Crystal and produced the performance he wanted with the mare.

“She was superb, lovely cross-country horse and was very, very happy in her round. She jumped beautifully and didn’t have a single moment where she found it difficult.”

Max Warburton, meanwhile, was delighted to get Deerpairc Revelry safely home, despite the 12-year-old gelding tiring towards the latter stages. They sit in eighth.

“We finished slower than we’d all hoped,” Max said. “From about halfway, he started to make a little bit of a noise, and maybe his wind is maybe not as great as we all thought.

“He’s still only 12 though and he’s made a trip around a very, very big five-star feel pretty easy, so overall we’re over the moon.”

For Tom Jackson, the day brought an especially satisfying milestone with Hawk Eye, who completed his third five-star and first clear at the level to now sit in ninth.

“I’m really happy with him,” said Tom. “He was unfortunate at Badminton to have a trip up, but I’m delighted that we could show everyone what he’s made of today.”

‘He’s just such a star’

Britain’s Yas Ingham described completing her first Burghley cross-country round as an “incredible” experience, with the 10-year-old star Goliath Du Loir proving himself every inch the genuine, honest partner she has always believed him to be.

For Yas, who has produced this gelding since he was five, tackling his first five-star was inevitably daunting. But those nerves soon gave way to confidence as the pair negotiated their way around cross-country course designer Derek di Grazia’s formidable track.

“I don’t know why I was worried because he’s just such a star,” Yas said. “He’s so honest and has such a genuine personality and we have a great partnership.”

Having sought advice from fellow competitor Gemma Stevens before setting off, Yas focused on being patient, trusting her lines and, ultimately, getting the job done.

The scale and intensity of the course made it a demanding ride right to the finish. Yas admitted that nothing quite compared with approaching the top of the Leaf Pit, trying not to look down, while her horse initially found plenty to distract him.

“He came out with his eyes on stalks, looking at all the crowd,” she explained. “But by about minute three he put his head down and got stuck in. After that, we both started really enjoying it.”

A costly day for some

Cross-country day proved influential. There were nine retirements, including Tim Price’s Falco, who was in third – he refused jumping into the Trout Hatchery and Tim opted to save him for another day.

Caroline Powell’s High Time, Caroline Pamukcu’s HSH Tolan King, Clarke Johnstone’s Domasco, Susie Berry’s John The Bull and Clever Trick, Harry Meade’s Et Hop Du Matz, Sam Watson’s Ballyneety Rocketman and Anthony Clark’s five-star debutant Ballinaguilkey Fortunus were also among today’s retirees.

There were also nine eliminations, but all horses and riders have been reported to be ok. Tom Jackson’s United 36 fell at the final part of the Trout Hatchery, Sarah Bullimore fell from Corimiro at the final fence, Tiana Coudray and D’Artagnan, who came unstuck at a set of gates, Alexander Bragg’s Jaeger Master and who fell jumping into the Trout Hatchery. Others who didn’t complete included Lucy Latta and RCA Patron Saint, Cassie Sanger and Redfield Fyre, Samuel Jeffree and Santoro, Tara Dixon and Master Smart and Kate Rocher-Smith and Dassett Select.

Images by Tim Wilkinson