Event rider Alex Bragg was over the moon after a clear run round the fiendish cross-country at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

Bragg, 44, completed a clear round inside the time at the fabled 5* event – the first rider to do so – on a gloomy Sunday morning in Stamford where his rivals faltered.

Bragg and mare Quindiva finished third at Badminton in the spring and the Bridgwater native is focused on climbing the podium again in Lincolnshire.

“It was just amazing,” he said.

“All of those super words that just describe you’re thrilled, pleased, excited, ecstatic, everything all in one.

“Someone said at Badminton I thought you said it can’t get better and then today it just has. That’s down to my mare, she’s really delivered. She’s taken to this sport and she tried hard. The dressage on Thursday she still tries hard and that’s not where she’s gifted.

“This is where she is gifted, this is where she delivers, this is where she shines and this is where she leaves the field with others chasing her rather than in the dressage when she’s just trying to catch up.

Competitors described the four-mile course as one of the toughest and biggest they have faced and Bragg admits it was even harder than it looked.

“You’re having to react to the undulations, the course is so cleverly built,” said Bragg, who rounds off his latest Burghley bid with Sunday’s show-jumping event.

“We knew that when we walked it but when you ride it, I was saying to a couple of the really good riders you know, this is going to catch some people out who haven’t the discipline and haven’t the fitness levels and I’m not talking about the horses I’m talking about the riders, because your concentration and your control of your body position for your balance was key.

“That’s where I think Derek [di Grazia, course designer] challenges you so cleverly.

“He’s not trying to trip the horses up, but to just catch you out when they’re suddenly not where you thought they would be. It’s still massive isn’t it, every fence is huge.

“I was saying to myself don’t panic, don’t get overexcited, keep breathing. Honestly you have to keep breathing otherwise the excitement and adrenaline can make you ride a little bit too emotionally.

“You know you have to do it consciously, stick to your plan, get the lines right and the striding right, then the rhythm and balance is great, economic and the mare isn’t touching anything so she’s not slowing down and nothings scaring her.

“If she has a neat round then she stays confident and fast and willing and that’s exactly what we had. I wouldn’t say it felt effortless but she made it feel well within her comfort zone.”

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