Five-star winner heads to Burghley after World Championships run: ‘I’ve been guided by him and he’s very happy’
Fans will be thrilled to see Tim Price’s stalwart campaigner Falco in Britain again at Burghley, for what might be his final five-star
Tim Price has confirmed Falco will head to this week’s Defender Burghley Horse Trials (2-6 September).
Sue Benson‘s 17-year-old gelding ran at the eventing World Championships in Aachen three weeks ago, finishing 21st after a slightly disappointing performance, so there was a question mark about whether he would also line up at Burghley.
Fans will be thrilled to see Falco – who is already a five-star winner from Pau Horse Trials 2021, as well as a double runner-up at the level, including at Mars Badminton Horse Trials this year – make his Burghley debut.
World number one Tim explained his thinking to Horse & Hound, emphasising he has been guided by what is right for the horse in making his decision to run.
“He feels really good. He wants to go, I think,” said New Zealand rider Tim Price, adding that Burghley might be Falco’s final five-star run.
The horse had his top front teeth out over the winter last year, which Tim talked about on the Horse & Hound Podcast. He will have to have his bottom incisors out this winter as a rare disease continues to attack his gums.
Tim explained: “He’s coming towards the end of his career, he’s 17 years old. He’s got to have the bottom front teeth out at the end of the year for his health and wellbeing, so I think it's quite unlikely that he will come back to this level next year, but it could happen – it just depends how he is after having those teeth out.
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“We’ve looked him his whole career, which is why he’s been such a healthy, sound horse. There have been some years where he’s only done one three-day event while we’ve been looking after him for a championship or something later in the year.
“I’ve been very much guided by him in deciding to go to Burghley. He’s very happy and with an older horse, it’s really the preparation that puts the wear and tear on to them. He had a really good preparation up through to Aachen and he’s come through a brilliantly. Now we can use the same preparation and have some fun hopefully at Burghley.”
As Falco is a more warmblood type – 29.3% thoroughbred, according to horsetelex – and a careful jumper, Tim did not automatically think of him as a Burghley type, but says he has continued to exceed expectations through his career.
“Burghley is somewhere we never really, in the early days, thought he could go, but he keeps stepping up and shaping up and enjoying his job at the top level, especially with what he showed to us at Badminton,” he said, adding that the conditions will have to be right for him to run the horse.
“I need the ground to be good – I wouldn’t start him if it was heavy conditions. I don’t think that would be fair on a horse that likes to jump the way he jumps and everything that he is and what we know about him, but if all the stars align then it would be a fun week with him, alongside my other ride Global Quest.”
Falco starts as second favourite to win Burghley according to data analytics experts EquiRatings, with a 14% win chance.
There is a recent precedent for a horse going from a championship to Burghley and winning; Ros Canter did exactly that with Lordships Graffalo in 2024. The pair were part of Britain’s gold medal-winning team at the Paris Olympics, then scored their first Burghley victory.
Falco is number 55 at Burghley, the penultimate horse to start. Tim will be second out of the blocks on his other horse, Global Quest, who is number three (number one has been withdrawn, so the USA’s Caroline Pamukcu is the pathfinder on number two, HSH Tolan King).
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.