Burghley draw revealed: Zara Tindall mid-field
The drawn order has been released for the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in two weeks (1-4 September).
Zara Tindall will be hoping to go one better than her 2003 second place at the Lincolnshire event, this time riding High Kingdom (pictured at Burghley in 2011), who has been drawn number 57. This will mean she is likely to perform her dressage test during the Friday morning of the competition.
2009 winner Oliver Townend will be the only rider competing three horses. He is fourth to go riding his own and Michael McGrath’s Dromgurrihy Blue. He has also been drawn number 47 on Samuel Thomas and will then be last to go on his third ride MHS King Joules.
There are currently 87 combinations listed on the order, although 90 numbers have been given out.
This is because Andrew Nicholson has three horses listed but will only start on two (Jet Set IV, who has been double entered and so has two numbers, Nereo and Qwanza), while Abigail K Walters was given number 28 but she has since withdrawn her ride Perfick Miss Amber.
First to go will be Tom Crisp riding Coolys Luxury. This combination have a good track record at Burghley, having jumped clear across country in 2014 and 2015.
Horse & Hound Burghley blogger, Ben Way has been drawn number six, which will mean an early Thursday morning dressage for him.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
New Zealand’s Tim Price will be hoping to go one better than last year with Ringwood Sky Boy (number 82) when he was second to Michael Jung. Tim and his horse have hot-footed it back from Rio where the pair were unlucky to fall on the flat halfway round the cross-country. Tim is also entered on Bango (number 15).
Other past winning riders to look out for are Pippa Funnell on Second Supreme (number 44), Caroline Powell on Flying Finish (number 19) and Onwards And Upwards (number 76), Andrew Hoy on Rutherglen (number 22) and The Blue Frontier (number 78) and H&H columnist Mark Todd on NZB Campino (number 51).
Don’t miss H&H’s full Burghley Horse Trials preview out Thursday 25 August.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.