New Zealand eventing rider Andrew Nicholson and horse Avebury are the new official champions of the 2013 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials held last September in the United Kindom, following the doping-related disqualification of compatriot Jonathan (“Jock”) Paget and horse Clifton Promise.

In an unusual order of events, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) tribunal made Paget’s disqualification official prior to the full case hearing, FEI representatives said. This “partial decision” was handed down following Paget’s request to not delay the disqualification any further.

“Paget is aware that the ongoing uncertainty with regard to the Burghley title is having a detrimental effect on the sport of eventing and especially the build-up to the first two major events of the Northern Hemisphere season, this weekend’s Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (May 8-11),” Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ) stated on their website.

Nicholson and Avebury, a 14-year-old gray sport horse gelding, will compete in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which gets under way today (April 24) in Lexington, Ky