Under bright autumn skies and on perfect going, a record crowd witnessed the closest ever finish in the forty two year history of the Burghley Championships.

Whilst Britain’s Pippa Funnell on Primmore’s Pride led the way after Dressage, it was Andrew Nicholson and New York who were at the top of the table after mastering Wolfgang Feld’s innovative and demanding Cross Country track: one of only three partnerships to finish inside the optimum time of 12 minutes and 33 seconds.

However, with New York’s withdrawal the following morning Andrew Nicholson’s bid for a third Burghley Championship came to an end along with New Zealand’s five year winning streak. Thus, the door of opportunity opened particularly for the revised top five led by Polly Stockton on ‘Word for Word’: all of them within two Show Jumping fences of each other.

With only eleven clear rounds, William Fox-Pitt emerged as the surprise winner for Great Britain on his nine year old Highland Lad: the margin of victory, less than a point over both Polly Stockton and Mary King: Polly awarded the higher placing having completed the Cross Country within the optimum time.