Burghley Horse Trials
Established in 1961 the inception of Burghley Horse Trials falls at the feet of David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. David Cecil was highly educated at both Eton and Cambridge, but beyond that he was a talented sportsman, winning gold at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles. He offered the grounds of his stately manor for use as an equestrian venue for the three-day eventing format upon learning that a similar event at Harewood House in Yorkshire could no longer go ahead because of a suspected outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease. Since then, Burghley has played host to a record ten Championships, including the inaugural World Eventing Championships in 1966 and a European Championship in 1962 in the event’s second year.
The very first winner of Burghley Horse Trials came from a field of just 19 competitors, in front of a crowd of approximately 12,000. Sixty years later and over 173,000 spectators make the pilgrimage to the Stamford house, making it one of the top ten sporting events by attendance within the country, plus thousands more tuning in via the television.
The very first winner of Burghley Horse Trials came from a field of just 19 competitors, in front of a crowd of approximately 12,000. Sixty years later and over 173,000 spectators make the pilgrimage to the Stamford house, making it one of the top ten sporting events by attendance within the country, plus thousands more tuning in via the television.
Anneli Drummond-Hay took the first Burghley Horse Trials title aboard Merely-A-Monarch, since then members of actual royalty have followed suit, including Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, aboard Doublet in 1971.
Two years later in 1973, Princess Anne’s first husband and father to her two children Peter and Zara, Captain Mark Phillips was victorious riding Maid Marion. Following a military career within the senior cavalry regiment of the 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards Captain Mark Phillips would become a notable equestrian figure, none less so for his part in gaining Britain a World title in 1970; a European in 1971; and Olympic gold in 1972. Individually he was a four-time Badminton Horse Trials winner which ultimately led him to his become a cross-country course designer and Chef d’Equipe of the United States Eventing Team. Captain Mark Phillips is one of seven course designers at Burghley, covering the terms of 1989-1996, 1998-2000 and then from 2005-2019 when the current course designer Derek di Grazia took over.
Former European Champion Zara Tindall, with her parents both Burghley Winners, regularly takes part, carrying on the family’s much-loved attendance for the event.
Ginny Leng, otherwise known as Virginia Leng (née Holgate) became the first ever four-time winner of the Burghley Horse Trials, winning the event back-to-back from 1983 until 1986. Her then unprecedented run saw her take victory on her World and European mount Priceless in 1983 and 1985. The three-time Badminton winner set a benchmark with ultimately five Burghley wins adding another win again in 1989. The true equestrian legend who had been raised in Malta, culminated her eventing career with three individual European Championship titles; four team European titles for Great Britain; dual World titles; and a four-time Olympic medallist.
Her record of five wins has been matched by Kiwi’s Mark Todd and Andrew Nicholson. The latter has completed Burghley Horse Trials more so than any other competitor in the event’s history, rounding his career off with 36 finishes, which alongside those five wins generated five seconds and six third placings. Priceless remained the only horse to score a Burghley hat-trick for three decades until the gallant grey partner Avebury for Andrew Nicholson went one further to clinch a trio of Burghley triumphs, becoming the only horse and rider combination to win the event for three consecutive years, from 2012 until 2014.
The event attracts an array of international competitors each year, with winners so far coming from Britain, Ireland, Germany, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. Amongst a pathway lined with towering trees, the cross-country course combines and celebrates all of these past winners together, as the current year’s competitors gallop through ‘Winner’s Avenue’ all hoping that this season they can add their name to the array of plaques that adorn this leafy boulevard.
The rider with the most accolades at Burghley is William Fox-Pitt who overthrew those five of Ginny Leng to become the most decorated Burghley winner, stealing the title a dominating six times in 1994, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011.
Other distinguished Burghley winners include Pippa Funnell who became the first-ever rider to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, a feat earmarked as highly unlikely until Pippa broke that watershed in 2003. This meant that he had won three 5* (then 4* before re-categorisation) in the space of one season, whilst many riders are fortunate enough to win just one in their whole career. The complexity of this mission was backed up by the fact that it took 13 years for the slam to be repeated, this time by Michael Jung of Germany in 2016. 2016 was a truly glorious year for Jung who defended his individual Olympic title with his faithful and remarkable La Biosthetique Sam who stands as one of the most successful, if not the most successful event horses of all time.
Just like Badminton has Huntsman’s Close and the Vicarage Vee, Burghley has its own key fences which year after year remain a prominent feature within the course, most of which were created by Burghley’s first course designer Bill Thomson. From the Leaf Pit, to the Trout Hatchery, the Dairy Mound, and Capability’s Cutting, Burghley would not be Burghley if it did not include one of its most iconic landmarks, the infamous Cottesmore Leap ditch. Taking its name from a nearby hunt pack, the Cottesmore Leap is a true rider frightener, sitting at the highest point of the park, yawning 1.45 meters tall, and stretching across a former gully of 3 meters.
