The 2025 Defender Burghley Horse Trials will mark a five-star debut for both Tom Strawson and his horse, Public Address.

The 37-year-old rider, who is based in north-east Lincolnshire, has enjoyed a life immersed in horses since day one – his father rode at Bramham and they are a keen hunting family. His family also have links with Burghley in the form of Tom’s aunt, Ginny Rose, who competed here in the 80s and early 90s, finishing fourth one year.

Public Address, or Brian as he is known at home, wasn’t originally destined for five-star eventing. Bred in the purple for racing, by top National Hunt sire Milan, it would be fair to assume that his original connections had high hopes for him on the racecourse. But it wasn’t to be – he ran a couple of times as a five-year-old in Ireland

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