Harry Meade will be the first rider out at Defender Burghley Horse Trials (4-7 September) – and the last, although he will wear one number higher than the total combinations entered.
The world number one eventer is the only one with three entries for the CCI5*, so he will go first with his own and Mandy Gray’s Et Hop Du Matz, 24th with Charlotte and Peter Opperman’s Cavalier Crystal and last with Dinah and Stephen Posford and Juliet Carter’s Annaghmore Valoner.
There are 60 combinations entered but Harry and Annaghmore Valoner will be number 61; in keeping with Burghley tradition, no rider is asked to carry the supposedly unlucky number 13. Tom Jackson is number 12 with Helen Scott’s Hawk Eye and Harry Mutch 14 with Carole Mutch’s Shanbeg Cooley.
Ros is one of five former Burghley champions entered this year; the 2022 winner Piggy March is number 23 with Maidwell Mavericks’ MCS Maverick and 2010 champion Caroline Powell is number 30 with Ruth Armstrong, Serena Greenwell, Jo West, Tom Craig and Annabel Jenks’ High Time V. Tim Price, who won in 2018, is at number 40 with his 2024 runner-up Vitali, owned by Joe and Alex Giannamore. Three-time winner Oliver Townend is at number 50 with Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Cooley Rosalent.
Keep up with all the Defender Burghley news as it happens via the H&Hdedicated Burghley hub, and don’t miss our full course preview in next week’s (28 August) magazine, for which eventing legend Pippa Funnell assesses all 31 fences on this year’s track.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
