Equestrian-Pregnant Canter caps dream season with second straight Burghley win

Ros Canter Celebrates Second Consecutive Burghley Win Amid Pregnancy

(Reuters) -Briton Ros Canter capped a golden season with another milestone moment on Sunday, winning her second successive Burghley Horse Trials just weeks after announcing her pregnancy.

The 39-year-old Canter etched her name in the record books as the first rider since Ginny Leng in 1989 to win Badminton and Burghley in the same year on the same horse.

Canter, who captured her first Burghley title last year shortly after clinching team eventing gold at the Paris Olympics, withdrew from consideration for Britain's squad at the upcoming home European championships due to her pregnancy.

"I can't believe I haven't had a single person saying, 'what are you doing?'. I've had a few people saying, 'are you sure?' and 'be careful', but on the whole I have had huge support. It has been amazing," Canter told the BBC.

"You never know with childbirth, it can throw all sorts of spanners in the works, but the plan is to be at Badminton next year."

Canter triumphed on gelding Lordships Graffalo, who became the first horse to win both prestigious events twice.

"I am so grateful to Lordships Graffalo for some unbelievable experiences. He is my horse of a lifetime and hopefully the horse of a lot of people's lifetimes," Canter said.

The reigning European individual champion sealed victory by nine penalties, finishing with a score of 23.6, ahead of Ireland's Austin O'Connor on Colorado Blue. Britain's Harry Meade claimed third on Cavalier Crystal for the third consecutive year.

Canter's Burghley success crowned an extraordinary year that also included victory at Luhmuhlen, making her only the second rider to win three five-star events in one season after compatriot Pippa Funnell achieved the Grand Slam of Eventing in 2003.

(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)