Early start for Burghley

Massive entries force Burghley to start the dressage on Wednesday 29 August

The Pedigree Burghley Horse Trials will start a day early, on Wednesday 29 August, to accommodate the huge entry at what is Europe’s only four-star three-day event this year.

The first horse inspection will take place at 12 noon and teams will be declared at 2pm. Dressage for the first 16 competitors will commence at 3.20pm. Admission is free for the Wednesday.

Australia, New Zealand, USA, Great Britain, France and Ireland will be fielding teams and, in a test run of the proposed new Olympic format, there will be two show jumping rounds on the final day. The first will decide the team result and then the top 20 placed riders will show jump for individual places in the afternoon.

Burghley has received a massive entry of 147, including a number of three-horse riders. The youngest competitor at this year’s event is 22-year-old Tom Crisp riding Barnaby’s Ballad.

The field also contains former winners Andrew Nicholson, Blyth Tait, William Fox-Pitt and Mary King, plus Olympic gold-medallists Phillip Dutton, Matt Ryan and David O’Connor.

Following his win at Lexington, David O’Connor is in contention for the Rolex Grandslam title and needs to win both Burghley and Badminton to claim the $250,000 prize.

Eventing enthusiasts who are unable to attend the event can stay in touch with the latest news via H&H Online’s daily reports, as well as same day video and audio clips starting on Wednesday 30 August in association with Saddletude.com

Fans can also enjoy TV coverage of the event on BBC2’s Grandstand programme at 15.45-16.55 (BST) on Sunday 2 September. Eurosport’s coverage will be shown at 19.00-20.30 (BST) on 19 September.

For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk. For tickets contact the box office (tel: 01933 304744).