Nadja Minder and Toblerone are in the lead after Day 1 of dressage at the CCI5* Burghley

Nadja Minder (26) and her horse Toblerone (19) are like an old married couple. The Swiss-bred son of Yarlands Summer Song was already eleven when he competed in his first international eventing competition. Since then, the two have been through it all together—Young Riders European Championships, “real” European Championships, and World Championships. And Badminton and Burghley.

Their last five-star appearance was at Badminton this spring, where they placed 24th and would have finished significantly higher had Toblerone not knocked down four poles in the final course. Judging by the statistics, show jumping isn’t necessarily his favorite discipline. But on the cross-country course, he’s a true champion. And as we saw today, he’s no slouch in dressage either. With 29.5 penalty points, Nadja Minder and Toblerone lead the dressage standings.

They were followed by two British pairs: Gemma Stevens and Chilli Knight, 0.1 penalty points behind, ahead of Max Warburton riding the Irish stallion Deerpairc Revelry (31.2).

Incidentally, Nadja Minder attributes the gelding’s continued fitness at age 19 primarily to her management philosophy—as she explained to *Horse & Hound*, her horses live together in groups, have access to pasture during the day, and have a paddock at night.

A Horse with a History

New Zealand’s Tim Price is currently in fourth place, riding Global Quest, who was also bred in Ireland. Through his Dutch sire, Metropole, the stallion is a grandson of Libero H and a great-grandson of Voltaire, with a bloodline steeped in Irish heritage on his dam’s side. He was the horse ridden by Georgie Campbell, a British rider who died in an accident in 2024. He was also the horse that crushed the then-36-year-old to death when she fell from him in 2024. After that, Tim Price took over as his rider.

This is the pair’s first time competing at Burghley, and with 32.1 penalty points—currently placing them fourth—they’ve had a great start. Georgie Campbell had already trained Global Quest to four-star level, working with Tim Price at times. Price says:

“He was her favorite horse. I have the privilege of riding him in her place now, so this is in her honor. She always wanted to compete in five-star tournaments with him. So now I’m doing that for her.”

Harry Meade, the favorite?

It’s hard to believe, but Britain’s Harry Meade topped the eventing world rankings for a year, even though he has never claimed one of the truly major victories—neither at CCI5* events nor at championships. However, he has placed in the top five in twelve five-star events. At Burghley alone, he has finished third three times, each time riding the 16-year-old Irish mare Cavalier Crystal, who will be the last to enter the arena tomorrow.

According to EquiRatings, Meade’s chances of winning have never been better than this year, since Ros Canter—one of the top favorites—is absent. But Cavalier Crystal’s problem is dressage. She’s a sure thing in cross-country and show jumping. However—statistically speaking—the point difference between her and the best dressage horses in the field has never been as small as it is this year: 3.2 penalty points. So there’s definitely potential there.

However, the statistics also show that Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro have the best chance of winning at 21 percent, followed by Tim Price and his 17-year-old veteran Falco (16 percent), the World Championship pair Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake (who had a fall in Aachen and therefore did not finish) at 14 percent, and finally Meade and Cavalier Crystal at 8 percent.

Harry Meade is one of those riders who has two irons in the fire. The first one, however, has already gone quite cold. Today he rode Et Hop du Matz and finished his dressage routine with a rather disappointing 39 penalty points, placing 18th out of the first 24 starters.

No German couple is competing at Burghley this year. You can find all the results here.