Event rider Tim Price is in the rare position of being content with second place heading into the final day of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

The Beaminster-based star from New Zealand is challenging for 5* honours once again with prized asset Vitali.

But having led heading into the show-jumping round at Burghley last year and at Badminton in the spring, Price is content to let leader and Olympic champion Ros Canter bear the brunt of the overnight nerves.

“Second is better than being in the lead,” Price joked. “You’ve got to turn everything into a useful tool.

“I know he’s often been in a winning position but I’m really trying to compile three decent phases in him.

“What I really want for him is to be a good all-round three-day eventer and that includes jumping well in the show-jumping.

“Results are results, I just want him to jump well and myself to do a good job and do justice by him. I believe he’s got good show-jumping rounds in him, I just need to find that key.”

Price and Vitali came through Burghley’s infamous cross-country course unscathed on Saturday to sit just 3.5 penalties behind home favourite Canter.

The pair had the longest wait of all, going off last of all 67 riders, but finished in style to leave Price in the hunt for a sixth 5* triumph.

“He was really good, he’s a class horse, he’s always been a super cross-country horse. Weird and wonderful things can happen at tis level even to the best,” said Price.

“He keeps on giving and I feel like this partnership is so good now but definitely the best he’s felt.

“It’s not his first time round these big tracks but this was definitely the best he has felt. He was galloping and moving but still jumping and it’s a real privilege to ride him round there because he can go fast across the ground but you can balance him up at the end. It was a great round.”

Not every rider passed the Burghley test with flying colours though with Price’s wife Jonelle and 2023 champion Oliver Townend among those to fall.

Discussing the difficulty of the course, Price said: “It was tough, poor Jonelle fell off in the first couple of minutes. In the true Burghley stamina requirement, big fences kept coming and the difficulty was still there all the way home.

“I’d say it was up there with the top three Burghley’s I’ve tackled.”

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