Francis Whittington was delighted to relive special memories on his return to the Defender Burghley Horse Trials.

The Rotherfield-based rider, 47, saddled Sir Percival III to great effect at the famed 5* event for many years, finishing in the top-20 on four separate occasions.

He returned for a third run on DHI Purple Rain for the 2024 extravaganza and made a fine start, scoring 34.7 in the dressage phase.

“I’m really pleased with purple rain today. I think it’s great fun for all the owners who are here watching today as well,” said Whittington.

“It’s not necessarily been our best build up in terms of getting the right competitions in but he went in today and I think did a test that I’m happy with.

“Not perfect by any stretch but the trot work we had at the beginning was exceptionally good, well I thought so, and the canter work we just dropped down slightly.”

This year’s Defender Burghley sees a record-breaking field of entrants - the strongest on record - with eight 5* winners in the mix.

Saturday’s cross-country phase is often seen as the decisive leg of the Burghley challenge and Whittington says it doesn’t get any easier with experience.

“It’s a strong track out there for the cross-country. It always is partly because of the terrain, there’s very few events in the world that have this kind of old fashioned eventing terrain,” he said.

“You need a particular horse, strong of heart, strong of mind to keep going all the way round. Often you have an accumulative issue towards the end based on previous jumps but I think it will be exciting, it will be fun to watch.

“I don’t think I’ll be relatively relaxed about it, I’ll be nervous and I’ll be excited about it.

“With Burghley, you’re getting towards the end of the season, it’s fun, it's exciting, it's challenging. There’s usually a very good atmosphere here as well. It’s up there with Badminton.

“My wonderful old campaigner Sir Percival (check spelling) came here for many years and he loved this venue, we always had a good run here generally speaking, so I think it sits well in my heart because of that.”

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