Event rider Gemma Stevens roared in delight as she crossed the finish line at the end of a gruelling cross-country test at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

Stevens, 39, took hold of sixth place alongside Chilli Knight heading into the final day of the fabled 5* event after picking up just a minor time penalty in Saturday’s cross-country.

This is Stevens’ first appearance in the event since 2019 but she looked like she had never been away as she mastered a track which some riders described as the toughest Burghley track to date.

“That was so scary, so thrilling and so amazing and the horse was just so brilliant,” she said.

“I’m so chuffed but I was gutted I lost a bit of time at the end because he lost a front shoe slipping and sliding down the hill. We were on the time before that but that’s horses and I’m thrilled to get home and clear and back at this level.

“He’s a little horse with a massive heart and he needs that determination to make him good enough to make him jump these crazy jumps. He doesn’t have the most ability but what he lacks there, he makes up for it in his heart, so I need that.”

After some time in the wilderness, Hickstead's Stevens appears to have asserted herself at the top level of eventing once more.

She finished 14th at Badminton and looked much more in sync in Lincolnshire, admitting she had a point to prove after a show-jumping error cost her the title in Gloucestershire.

“I thought come on, we can both do it but it’s putting it together on the day and it happening and not having stupid mistakes or doing something crazy or the hose catching a leg,” she said.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to have done it.”

Stevens will start Sunday’s show-jumping 10.1 marks off Olympic gold medallist and overnight leader Ros Canter, but will give it everything in her bid to secure a first 5* title since Chedington in 2021.

“Chilli Knight is not a show-jumper, he’s an event horse so I can get him there at the right point but I can’t lift him over,” she added.

“He’s a good little jumper and jumped many clear rounds. He’s lost his shoe so we’ve got to make sure he’s okay first but he seems fine and pulled up really well.”

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