Burghley Horse Trials
The 2021 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials was due to be held on Thursday 2 September to Sunday 5 September 2021, but it has been cancelled due to the challenges associated with running major events during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The riders would have tackled a new cross-country challenge as Captain Mark Phillips hands over to Tokyo Olympic course-designer Derek di Grazia.
Burghley 2020
The 2020 horse trials was another top-level competition that fell victim to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Sadly neither riders nor spectators were able to flock to the grounds of Burghley House at Stamford in Lincolnshire to enjoy five-star eventing at its best, but fans were treated to a virtual bonanza online instead.
Burghley’s history
The first Burghley event was held in 1961 and the horse trials had never been cancelled or abandoned until Covid-19 took out the 2020 renewal.
Anneli Drummond-Hay was the event’s first winner, riding Merely-A-Monarch, who also became the first horse to win both Badminton Horse Trials and Burghley when he took the Gloucestershire event the following spring.
Andrew Nicholson’s ride Avebury, who won the event in 2012, 2013 and 2014, is the only horse who has won Burghley three times. The only other horse to triumph at the event more than once is Ginny Elliot’s ride Priceless, who won in 1983 and 1985, when he was also crowned European champion.
Burghley has also hosted the European Championships on five other occasions, the most famous of these being in 1971 when Princess Anne took the title on Doublet.
Burghley essential information
• Burghley Horse Trials tickets
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Mark Phillips: ‘Why couldn’t we crowdfund Burghley?’ *H&H Plus*
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Hopes are high for new British five-star to replace Burghley Horse Trials
“People might be asked to put their hands in their pockets; the message is: sit tight, and if it comes off, we might be asking for help”
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Why Burghley cancelled, plus another Nations Cup leg lost *H&H Plus*
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Celebrating the Burghley Horse Trials winners 2000-2019: in pictures
Enjoy looking back through the H&H picture archives at the Burghley winners since the turn of the century
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‘Immense sadness’ as Burghley Horse Trials 2021 cancelled
“Next year marks our 60th anniversary and, despite the challenges ahead, we will be focusing all our efforts on delivering a spectacular event in 2022”
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H&H eventing editor’s blog: ‘Badminton and Burghley are our heritage – we cannot let them go’
How many of the owners and managers of these great estates will want eventing back? To lose one event is one thing… to lose two feels like getting out of the habit
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‘His buck was as good as his jump’: Anneli Drummond-Hay on her first few years with the legendary Merely-A-Monarch
“I scrimped and saved and managed to pay for him...”
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Badminton and Burghley competitor wins lifetime achievement award
“Her pledge to ensure the success of USEF’s teams and programs has left a lasting impression not only on the disciplines she has been so deeply tied to throughout her career, but also on those she has mentored and worked with over the years”
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Farewell to ‘lovely, kind’ five-star horse put down aged 11
The Dutch dark bay was crowned British novice champion in 2016, finishing ninth in the young horse championships at Osberton the same year
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No BE80(T) championships at Burghley as event retains four-day format
Burghley believes that the four-day format is in the best interests of all concerned
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An egg-head, tummy muscles and ‘the purest form of our sport’ – 18 super quotes from Burghley 2019
With this week’s Burghley Horse Trials cancelled by Covid-19, we satisfy your Burghley cravings witih quotes from Burghley 2019
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William Fox-Pitt on his first Burghley title: ‘you think how did that happen?’
‘All my career I had won pink rosettes and best boy awards and suddenly I thought ‘no, I can be good at this and I can win’
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Strap yourselves in and ‘ride’ the winning cross-country round at Burghley
Have you always dreamt of riding round the iconic five-star cross-country course at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials? Well, now you can thanks to this incredible video
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Historic Burghley fences: ‘It’s always been called that’ *H&H Plus*
Burghley’s iconic fences have remained since its first running nearly 60 years ago. Catherine Austen traces the history of the Leaf Pit, the Trout Hatchery and more
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#ThrowbackThursday: Burghley Horse Trials 2014 video round-up of all the best bits
Take a look back at the action from the 2014 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials via these daily video reports, as we continue to reminisce in what should have been the week of the five-star event, had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic...
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Burghley Horse Trials 2020 simulation: one in 100,000 possibilities *H&H Plus*
In the absence of a real Burghley, it’s fun to speculate on how this year’s leaderboard might have looked – even though such “events” can never be used to give prize money or influence Olympic selection. Diarmuid Byrne from EquiRatings plays out a simulated competition
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Throwback to fresh horses and snappy dressers at Burghley 2008 trot-up
As today should have been the day of the first horse inspection, enjoy some videos from the Horse & Hound archive recorded at the 2008 event, which include some big names you might recognise...
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Burghley heroes: 10 of the greatest horses *H&H Plus*
From the inaugural winner to a modern-day star, Ellie Hughes, Catherine Austen and Pippa Roome pick Burghley’s horse heroes
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Eventing legends and Carl Hester headline ‘all-star’ virtual Burghley weekend
The virtual weekend will take place 4-6 September, the weekend the horse trials should have run, as organisers say they are ‘determined’ to mark the 2020 date
