‘It’s going to give riders something to think about’: Burghley cross-country course-designer shares hints for 2027
Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course-designer Derek di Grazia has confirmed that the 2027 track will run in the opposite direction to the past two events.
Derek, who has designed Burghley’s five-star course since 2022, shared a planning update for next year’s fixture during an autumn visit to the Lincolnshire parkland.
“We’ve decided that we're going to go ahead and reverse the track for next year, which will give the riders something new to look at for next year's course,” said Derek.
The last time the course ran in that direction was in 2024. This way round, Defender Valley and the Leaf Pit tend to be the big early questions, before competitors gallop up to the Trout Hatchery.
The terrain plays a massive part in Burghley’s cross-country test and each direction gives the track quite a different flavour. The direction it will run in 2027 is a much flatter start compared to the long uphill pull to the Dairy Mound that competitors faced early doors this year.
Burghley’s cross-country course is roped off all year, but although we know where the swathes of parkland set aside for the competition are, we will not know the exact route until the course is unveiled next summer.
The Cottesmore Leap loop is the best example of this. We will have to wait and see if Derek is going to take competitors over the Dairy Mound first, before turning left-handed over the Cottesmore Leap and whizzing down Winners’ Avenue, or the other way around.
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“We know the track’s going to go the other way, but at the same time, we're looking for new ways of using the park and jump locations,” said Derek. “We’re looking to see if there are any groundworks that have to be done, which typically we do this time of year, and then trying to figure out which jumps are going to go where.”
He added: “We’re trying to make something that is going to give riders something to think about. At the same time, I think having the course run the opposite direction – jumps and combinations different to this past year – just makes it a little bit more interesting.”
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.