Holly Richardson sets the standard on cross-country day at Burghley

Third to go, following American pathfinder Caroline Pamukcu and New Zealand challenger Tim Price, she finished two seconds inside the optimum time with Ballyneety Silver Service.

And it came just four months after they did the same job at Badminton, while only 9.2 time penalties were collected on her 11-year-old's Burghley debut in 2025.

"He set off a bit fresh and then he settled down, and he was just absolutely amazing everywhere. He was on the line, on the button and kept galloping all the way," Holly said.

"I set out with a plan and stuck to it. I had a Plan B if it was going wrong, but he just kept answering the questions perfectly and we kept to Plan A all the way."

Holly, who has a degree in biomedical science and rides full-time from her base in Breckenbrough, North Yorkshire, held a top-three place more than halfway through the day after providing further proof of the combination's five-star excellence in the pivotal cross-country phase.

They also gave themselves every chance of improving on last year's 14th-place finish at Burghley if they can deliver a solid display during Sunday's showjumping finale.

"You don't really have time to think about things on the course," she added. "You start thinking about the next fence as soon as you have landed from the previous one.

"You can't enjoy it too much because you have got to keep going all the way. He is only 11, but he is such a big galloping horse and I am absolutely thrilled with him."