Stamford, England—Aug. 31  

At the end of the first horse inspection 72 horse and rider combinations from 10 nations make up the start list for the Land Rover Burghley CCI****.

The members of the ground jury, Sue Baxter of Great Britain, David Lee of Ireland and Anne Mette Binder of Denmark ensured that all horses are fit and ready to compete at this prestigious four-star competition. Three horses were held for re-inspection: Roo Fox’s Fleet Street, Stacey Shimmons’s Orions Promise and Holly Payne-Caravella’s Never Outfoxed. All three were accepted on second presentation.

The U.S. contingent at Burghley this year includes individual Olympic bronze medalist Phillip Dutton, who’s riding Fernhill Fugitive. Also across the pond are Elisa Wallace on Simply Priceless, Bunny Sexton with Rise Against, Holly Payne-Caravella and Libby Head with Sir Rockstar.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Libby Law

While last year’s winner, Germany’s Michael Jung, is not competing in this year’s event, three-time consecutive winner Andrew Nicholson, is back from injury and looking for a fairy-tale ending with a win at Burghley in 2016. Nicholson rides Nereo and Qwanza. Strong competition looks set to come from another former winner Oliver Townend who has entered MHS King Joule and Dromgurrihy Blue.

Antipodean riders such as Chris Burton on Nobilis 18 and TS Jamaimo, Jonelle Price on Classic Moet and Tim Price on Ringwood Sky Boy all look like to pose strong challenges for the title.

Former double Olympic champion Sir Mark Todd, 60, will be the oldest rider in the field, while first-timer, Oxfordshire-based Imogen Gloag at 21 is the youngest rider entered. Six French riders will be competing following their nation’s 2016 Rio eventing gold medal success, including Cedric Lyard, Rodolphe Scherer and Pascal Leroy.

The best dressed riders were Arthur Duffort of France and Becky Woolven of Great Britain—judged by 2016 Miss Rutland Nikita Azzopardi.

Emilie Chandler will ride the guinea pig dressage test in front of the ground jury at 9:10 a.m. local time (4:10 a.m. ET) before the first combination Tom Crisp with Coolys Luxury kick off the competition in the main arena at 9:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. ET).

IMPORTANT LINKS: Live streaming / Burghley website / Burghley Twitter / Burghley Facebook / Burghley Instagram / Burghley YouTube

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Libby Law

Libby Head and Sir Rockstar. Photo by Libby Law

Libby Head and Sir Rockstar. Photo by Libby Law

Holly Payne-Caravella and Never Outfoxed. Photo by Libby Law

Bunnie Sexton’s daughter, Maddie, jogged Rise Against. Photo by Libby Law

Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless. Photo by Libby Law