A brilliant Burghley, plus a changing of the guard in Paris – what the horse world is talking about

1. Ros Canter enjoys epic Burghley win

The victims of flag rule penalties in Paris that robbed them of a higher individual placing, Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo went for glory in Stamford and won the five-star of all five-stars – the 2024 Defender Burghley Horse Trials – which was once Ros’s “local” spectator event as a teenager. Michele and Archie Saul’s 12-year-old “Walter” showjumped clear and four seconds over the time allowed to become the second horse ever to win both Badminton, Burghley and an Olympic gold medal – the other being La Biosthetique-Sam FBW ridden by Michael Jung.

Meanwhile, Tim Price coaxed a masterful showjumping round from Vitali for second, the horse having collected some cricket scores in the phase on previous occasions. And Harry Meade proved himself the master of this level, having produced, prepared and ridden three horses into the top 12 here this weekend with two further contenders left at home.

Read the final Burghley leaderboard story

2. Other top Burghley contenders have a tough weekend

Oliver Townend, another favourite for a top placing at Burghley, was in fifth position after dressage with 24.4 penalties riding Kentucky CCI5* winner Cooley Rosalent. However the pair parted company at the Rolex corners on the challenging cross-country course, putting an end to their chances here. Other former five-star winners to experience misfortune included Jonelle Price’s Grappa Nera – one of the few pairs that fell foul of the much-talked about Leaf Pit. Jonelle was back on her feet quickly, with the mare trotting off as if to look for the next fence.

Find out about other riders’ mixed fortunes

3. Paradressage: USA knocks Britain off the top spot they are so used to

In an unexpected result, Britain missed out on a Paralympic dressage team medal for the first time in the sport’s history. The team performed solidly overall to finish in sixth on a total score of 219.562, having already won a glut of individual medals.

The USA put in a series of sensational performances to win the gold with a record-breaking total score of 235.567 – having only won their first Paradressage medal in Tokyo three years ago. Despite improving on their Tokyo team score, the Dutch had to settle for silver on 223.751 while Germany took bronze on 223.751.

There was much to celebrate in the British camp in terms of individual medals though, including Natasha Baker making a brilliant comeback after her long break from the sport, Sophie Wells winning unexpected medals on LJT Egebjerggards Samoa, Georgia Wilson securing back-to-back medals for Britain, and Mari Durward-Akhurst and Athene Linebjerg winning grade I freestyle bronze against the odds.

What happened to turn results around?

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