British star Oliver Townend ended a testing 24 hours by seeing his hopes of securing eventing's richest prize dashed on a thrilling final day at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

Yorkshireman Townend still finished second on Cooley SRS and fifth with Ballaghmor Class, collecting £75,000, but New Zealander Jonelle Price took Badminton's £100,000 top prize following a nerveless clear round aboard 15-year-old mare Classic Moet.

Lincolnshire's Ros Canter - a Great Britain European team gold medal-winning colleague of Townend's in Poland last September - was third on Allstar B, with Sussex challenger Gemma Tattersall fourth on Arctic Soul.

Townend had been chasing the Rolex Grand Slam - a £255,000 jackpot awarded to any rider that wins consecutive Burghley, Kentucky and Badminton titles.

He arrived in Gloucestershire with Burghley and Kentucky glory already secured, but despite a clear round on Cooley SRS' four-star event debut and two fences down aboard Ballaghmor Class, 37-year-old Price prevailed.

Townend was issued with an official warning on Saturday for his riding of both of his horses during the cross-country phase. He was interviewed by the event's ground jury and warned regarding his over-use of the whip on both horses.

"I am disappointed," Townend told Press Association Sport, as he reflected on Saturday's events. "I am who I am.

"Kentucky last weekend felt fantastic and smooth for me, and I won it.

"Yesterday, I had to fight hard. I can win prettily and I can win ugly, and that is why I am seven times British number one and world number one at the minute.

"Of course you are going to get critics, but AP McCoy, Lester Piggott, Conor McGregor, it doesn't matter who you are in sport.

"If you are at the top of your game, you are always going to get someone try and trample you."

Reviewing his Badminton campaign - the Grand Slam remains exclusive property of previous winners Pippa Funnell (2003) and Michael Jung (2016) - Townend added: "It's an unbelievable result, with hindsight, especially for Cooley SRS.

"Second is a big achievement for the team, and second and fifth at Badminton isn't too bad, plus first and seventh at Kentucky last week.

"I couldn't be happier with how they have dug deep and I couldn't be happier with how they came out this morning. They came out fresh, well and jumped fantastic rounds.

"This was Jonelle's day. I didn't watch the round live, but if it is meant to be it is meant to be. Fair play to her, Jonelle's mare yesterday showed what an unbelievable freak she is, because I knew how hard it was out there on cross-country.

"For a horse to finish the way Jonelle's mare finished, I hope there is an awful lot of foals coming off her!"

Wiltshire-based Price, 37, who had a baby son last August, is the first woman to win Badminton since Australian Lucinda Fredericks aboard Headley Britannia in 2007.

"I am sure it will sink in later. It is surreal," Price said. "It is like joining an elite club.

"I wondered when it (a four star win) was going to happen. It has, and Badminton is one of the biggest. It is pretty special.

"I knew it was going to take a clear round to win today, and I was trying not to bother to look at who was having fences down and who wasn't.

"I just tried to stick to my plan. It was so tight, and I thought anyone in the top 10 could have won today, so it needed a clear round."