AUSTIN O’Connor and the amazing Colorado Blue finished second at the 2025 Defender Burghley Horse Trials last Sunday for their second podium finish at a five-star event this year. The result was Ireland’s best finishing result at Burghley since Harry Freeman-Jackson won with St Finbarr in 1963. O’Connor’s penalty score was also the lowest ever achieved by an Irish rider at the prestigious event.

Completing on 32.6, O’Connor was nine points off the winner, Ros Canter, who won the event for the second year in a row with Lordships Graffalo, making ‘Walter’ the first horse ever to win two titles at both Badminton and Burghley.

O’Connor started as he meant to go on, producing his best-ever five-star dressage test on Friday (27.8), which put them in eighth place at that stage. An outstanding cross-country performance on Saturday, where they jumped clear and added just 0.8 time penalties, moved them into an enviable second position. They went on to secure the runner-up finish on Sunday with just one fence down in the final show jumping phase.

The best there is

“Being second to this lady (Ros Canter) is as good as winning because this combination, as history will show, is the best there is,” said O’Connor, who was third behind Canter at Badminton in May.

“I’m over the moon. We had a rail down but it didn’t make a difference to the final result. We have been beaten by out and out champions.

“Our biggest problem was that ‘Salty’ was so fresh, which is extraordinary after yesterday. He was pulling my arms out at the end of the cross-country yesterday, so if that’s the reason I had a rail this year, then I’m delighted.

“Look, it wasn’t our weekend last year, but we won Maryland 5* in 2023, were third at Badminton in 2023 and this year and now this finish here - it’s unreal. I think Salty and Lordships Graffalo are in a league of their own at this level."

Colorado Blue, who is by Jaguar Mail was bred in Ireland by Kate Jarvey and is owned by The Salty Syndicate alongside his rider. “It’s surreal, he is an incredible horse. He has changed my career, I think he has changed eventing in Ireland, just his sheer consistency, there are very few horses in the world with that consistency at this level.

"The horse has been incredible for me and for Ireland, he keeps breaking records, or we keep breaking records, but the bottom line is that you wouldn’t do it, whether it’s me, Ros [Canter] or Harry [Meade], without that standard of horse. We know each other since he was a foal basically, we have got a great rapport - he has just got so much heart and ability.

“It’s a dream that’s continuing,” O’Connor went on. “Horses like Salty don’t come into our lives very often, no matter who you are or how successful you are - how he’s jumped is so exciting.

“He’s 16, but he thinks he’s six years old. If you don’t have a special horse with a special heart, you’re never at the races.”

Austin O'Connor and Colorado Blue on their way to securing second place at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2025 \ Nigel Goddard

Relieved

The winner Ros Canter commented: “The overriding emotion is relief that I managed to pull it off - every time I ride ‘Walter’ the pressure builds and I know one day I won’t be perfect and he probably won’t have my back at some point, as he won’t be able to. But I’m so grateful for the opportunities for myself, my team and my owners that we get to have with him. He’s the horse of a lifetime and hopefully an inspiration to many.

“I hope he goes down as a legend of our sport, a legend of all time, not only for his performances but for his character as well,” Ros said. “He’s an unbelievable horse to have at home and he thrives on these occasions. I could have dropped the rein, waved at the crowd for 15 minutes and I don’t think many horses would do that.”

Canter, who recently announced her second pregnancy, said she has had nothing but support.

“It’s a big deal announcing a pregnancy when you know you might be coming to an event like this. It was a necessity in my case because I wasn’t going to the Europeans,” she said. “All eyes were on me and rightly so - but I can’t believe I haven’t had a single person saying ‘What are you doing?’ I’ve had a few people saying, ‘are you sure?’ and ‘be careful’ but on the whole I have had nothing but support and the sense people just wanted to see Walter again.

“You never know with childbirth, it can throw all sorts of spanners in the works, but the plan is to be at Badminton next year.”

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, winners of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2025 \ Nigel Goddard

Irish-bred

World number one Harry Meade (GBR) completed an extraordinarily consistent run of CCI5* success finishing third for the third consecutive year on the 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Cavalier Crystal, who was bred in Co Waterford by Thomas Horgan. Just three of the top 10 left all the show jumping fences standing and, of those, only Meade and Cavalier Crystal completed inside the time.

“Cavalier Crystal’s record represents what five-star eventing is - in other words, it’s quite hard to do. She is a classic example, overlooked at the lower levels, but a gutsy little mare,” said Harry, who was also fourth on Annaghmore Valoner (ISH), who was bred in Co Offaly by Sinead Healion.

Alice Casburn was fifth on Topspin, their fourth consecutive top-10 finish here, with Tim Price and Vitali sixth. The New Zealand pair dropped down three placings after show jumping with fences 5a and eight down.

France’s Gaspard Maksud was seventh with Zaragoza and Badminton 2024 winner Caroline Powell (NZL) was eighth with High Time.

Britain’s Oliver Townend and the Irish Sport Horse Cooley Rosalent lost their first-phase lead after dancing to a superb score of 22 on Friday afternoon when collecting 29.2 cross-country penalties.

By Valent, this 11-year-old mare was bred by the late Woods Rosbotham and already had a second at Badminton and a win at the Kentucky 5* under her belt.

Canter and Lordships Graffalo were just slightly behind at that stage on 22.4 for second after dressage and, when they went clear across the country a whopping eight seconds under the optimum time, they stole the lead with ease.

Irish riders

The next best placed Irish rider was Sam Watson and Ballyneety Rocketman (by Errigal Flight and bred by James Hickey), who was 33rd overnight after dressage but flew up the leaderboard to 16th when adding just 23.2 time penalties on day two. He then rose to 13th following a clear round over the coloured poles.

Badminton 2024 runner-up Lucy Latta lay in 28th overnight after dressage with Lesley Crampton’s RCA Patron Saint (by Birkhof’s Grafenstolz and bred by Richard Ames) on 34.4, but an uncharacteristic stop on the cross-country and time penalties put her in 22nd. Eight show jumping faults failed to change that however and she finished in 22nd.

O’Connor was the final Irish finisher in 27th on his second mount, Sixmilewater, a 5* debutante by OBOS Quality 004.

Joseph Murphy and Belline Fighting Spirit (Freeman VDL) were sitting in 17th overnight after dressage on 30.9, but were pulled up on course by the cross-country ground jury due to pink being spotted in the horse’s mouth.

Padraig McCarthy had an unfortunate fall from MGH Mr Messack on the crosscountry on the challenging bounce to brush fence out of the water (7b), which put paid to his Burghley ambitions this year.

In total, seven Irish-bred horses finished inside the top 20 with, in addition to the aforementioned, Cooley Rosalent (ISH) 12th with Oliver Townend, Ballyneety Rocketman (ISH)[TIH] 13th with Ireland’s Sam Watson, Ballyneety Silver Service (ISH)[TIH] 14th with Holly Richardson (GBR) and Hawk Eye (ISH) 19th with Tom Jackson (GBR).