Harry Meade produced the rides of his life but that was not enough for glory at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials.
West Littleton’s Meade, 41, finished third, fourth and 12th as the only rider with three entrants in the field at the 5* event, narrowly missing out on the title to Paris 2024 gold medallist Ros Canter, with 2018 champion Tim Price taking second.
Despite firing more darts than any other rider, Meade was left wondering what more he will have to do to win the event, on the 60th anniversary of his father Richard’s victory on Barberry.
“I was so thrilled. It’s been a mega week, I’m just desperate to win one of these one day,” said Meade.
“I tried and I put pressure on myself the whole time. I felt happy, I felt comfortable, we had a pretty foot-perfect week on three horses across three phases.”
Meade was fault-free on Cavalier Crystal – who finished third for the second successive year – and Superstition, while he dislodged just the one fence aboard top-level debutant Annaghmore Valoner, who took fourth.
He said: “I was chuffed with all of them in the first phase and they were magic in the cross-country and to come out and jump two clear rounds with the first two horses in the time and then the third horse was beautiful, just breathed on a pole – we had 2.9 clears and it wasn’t quite enough [to win] but third, fourth and 12th was a wonderful weekend.
“It wasn’t my year, I wasn’t going to beat Ros. Huge congratulations to her. I hate watching the end, my friends are jumping. I walked away and put my fingers in my ears.
“I can’t watch friends jumping while willing them to have a fence down. I knew some would slap me on the back either way.”
Canter, meanwhile, added her third 5* title to the team eventing gold she won in Paris with a record-breaking Burghley score.
She led from the end of the first round courtesy of Izilot DHI but it was Lordships Graffalo, lovingly nicknamed ‘Walter’, who took control in the cross-country phase before coming through Sunday’s nerve-shredding showjumping finale to take glory.
“It means everything,” Canter told Burghley TV. “I’ve achieved a lot, I’ve been lucky, I’ve achieved some great things and going into this year, the Olympics was this one big box tick and in some ways it's made me a bit flat.
“So I came into this week and I thought:' I don’t need this, but I really want it.' I had a good feeling all week but I didn’t tell anyone.
“I felt really confident, ready to go out there and be more and I’ve stuck to my system and haven’t asked questions about anyone else about how to ride or what strides they're going on. I said to myself: 'you know what you’re doing, believe in yourself', and it’s paid off.”
Defender Burghley Horse Trials (5-8 September 2024) has been a major international sporting and social event for over 50 years. It attracts the world's top equestrians and is attended by vast and enthusiastic crowds. For more information visit www.burghley-horse.co.uk
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