Fiona Kashel and WSF Carthago. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’re deeply saddened to report that WSF Carthago, the mount of Great Britain’s Fiona Kashel, has been euthanized as a result of an injury sustained while on course at Badminton Horse Trials on Sunday. The 13-year-old gelding, owned by Frank Breach, was the first of Fiona’s two rides and the second horse out of the start box, and the pair had executed a clear round up until fence 26, the Jubilee Clump Brush fence, where they were eliminated for a rider fall. Though ‘Revel’ didn’t fall, it appeared from footage at the fence that he may have slipped over the edge of the wide angled ditch in front of the fence. Fiona later opted to withdraw her second mount, Creevagh Silver de Haar.

Badminton Horse Trials released a statement on Monday, which reads as follows:

“A sad postscript to cross country day was the injury incurred by WSF Carthago owned by Frank Breach and ridden by Fiona Kashel. WSF Carthago was treated in the Veterinary Clinic at Badminton and subsequently hospitalised. The extent of injury found in surgery meant successful repair was not possible and our commiserations go to the whole team.”

Fiona Kashel’s WSF Carthago. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Badminton was Revel’s third start at five-star: he finished seventh at Luhmühlen last year in his debut at the level, and completed Pau last autumn. Freelance groom Josh Levi, who has long worked alongside Fiona, posted an emotional tribute on social media to the horse, who had inarguably become an enormous part of the family at Fiona’s Surrey yard.

“WSF Carthago. My Golden Child,” he writes. “I don’t really know how to put into words how I’m feeling right now other than how proud and honoured I am to have had such an integral part of your career and life. From seeing you come onto the lorry in Ireland as a big gangly 5 year old and bringing you home with your beautiful kind eye, to watching you complete your first event, to then be by your side the whole way for 7 1/2 years and getting you to your first 5* last year at Luhmuhlen.

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo: your 2023 Badminton champions. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

When we started today’s showjumping finale at Badminton, it all seemed rather cut and, well, maybe not quite dry: wire-to-wire leaders Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo, assuming no absolute disasters befell them in the ring, were almost certain to win — the only question was how many of the originally two, and ultimately four, fences in hand she’d need to use to get there. Michele Saul’s eleven-year-old British-bred gelding (Grafenstolz x Cornish Queen, by Rock King) had had just one previous career rail in a long-format international, and that had been in his seven-year-old season, but after the taxing test of yesterday’s competition, and with the pressure of being in pole position looming overhead, would we see a dramatic change in form on this final day?

As it turned out, no: Ros and ‘Walter’ executed a truly classy clear round to secure the diminutive former World Champion her first ever five-star victory.

And taking the Badminton title feel?

“Quite cold, actually,” quips Ros, sheltering from the sudden downpour that had kicked into gear just as the prize giving got underway. “It’s a long, long journey to get here, and to get to a result like this, and it’s great.”

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

That journey began at the very start of ‘Walter’s’ career: Ros debuted him in his first British Eventing competitions in 2017, his five-year-old year, and has largely retained the ride throughout — though he did spend a season under Tom McEwen in 2019, culminating in a top ten finish in the Seven-Year-Old World Championships, while Ros was on maternity leave with daughter Ziggy. Throughout, she’s rated him as a real star, whether taking him around his CCI4*-S debut — at Burnham Market’s Blenheim eight- and nine-year-olds replacement in 2020, where he was second — or his CCI5* debut, here last year, where he was also second, or his British team debut, at the World Championships last year, where he was fourth.

“He’s an amazing horse, and he wouldn’t be very good at sitting home doing nothing, so Badminton, I think, is his highlight of the year,” she says. “He’s amazing, isn’t he? He really is. He hasn’t got a classic technique; he jumps a bit with his head in the air, but by God, does he want to clear those fences when he gets in there. I just think he’s the out and out event horse. He loves every phase, and he loves himself, which is great, and he loves the attention from everybody else. This day couldn’t have gone any better for him, I don’t think.”

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Though Ros had an extraordinary 16.6 penalties in hand — that’s four rails and a time penalty that she could have happily used — she kept her characteristic level head and used up just 1.6 of them, crossing the finish line with one of the scant four clears today and four seconds’ worth of time penalties. It’s seldom we see such a big margin coming into the final phase of an event — the last time was Burghley in 2016, when Australia’s Chris Burton and Nobilis 18 entered the ring in the lead with 20 penalties in hand, and ended up using 16 of them.

“I think we’ve got the mud to thank for that,” laughs Ros. “But he didn’t care, did he? He didn’t notice the mud; it wasn’t about that for him this week.”

Getting to a five-star at all is hardly a solitary feat — and winning one takes the combined efforts of a huge number of people, including, in this case, grooms Sarah Charnley and Travis Lee, and Ros’s family, including Ziggy, who’s been able to be a part of the whole week of competition thanks to help from Ros’s mother and husband Chris.

“The biggest thing since becoming a mother is the team I’ve got around me; I just couldn’t do without them,” says Ros, who was particularly pleased to have her mother along for the ride. “She doesn’t really like coming if she doesn’t have a big job to do and we had two grooms here this week, so it was touch and go whether she’d come and watch — so I’m delighted she’s here, because she’s the main person that keeps the wheels running.”

And, of course, you can’t get to the top without a great horse — and Ros truly knows one of those when she sees one. She’s had the pleasure of partnering the late, great Allstar B, with who she became World Champion in 2018; she piloted her other ride here, Pencos Crown Jewel — a maternal half-sibling to Lordships Graffalo, and both a product of Pennie Wallace’s breeding programme — to ninth place, and she’s got something truly exceptional in this eleven-year-old superstar, who’s now become a Badminton champion at just the start of his top-level career.

“It’s an absolute privilege, to be quite honest,” she says. “It’s a privilege to ride Walter and to have him in our life, because not only is he a great horse to ride, he is the most wonderful character. He’s got character in absolute abundance. He makes us laugh every day. He’s quite untrainable on the floor, but he’s just a brilliant person to have around. I truly feel privileged. When Allstar B started to become successful, I felt quite a lot of pressure riding him, and so I’ve been determined to enjoy Walter — but it’s easy to enjoy him because he just gives his all, all the time, and I just think he really enjoys doing the job he does.”

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class take second place in the sixteen-year-old gelding’s eighth five-star start — and eighth five-star top ten. Though they tipped a rail at fence three, they held the rest of the round together and crossed the finish line just one second over the optimum time to climb ahead of overnight runners up Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue.

“I was happy with third, and to finish second is as good,” he says. “I think for any of the horses who’ve finished the competition, they’re all absolute winners, because it was not an easy week at all, in any way, shape, or form. Any horse that has finished here is pretty special.”

Though just one of Oliver’s two starters finished the week here — the 15-year-old Swallow Springs was pulled up by stewards on course — the rider credits his runner-up as being one of the best horses he’s ever had.

“He’s unreal, isn’t he? I don’t know how many Badmintons and Burghleys and Kentuckys he’s done, but he’s still not out of the top five,” he says. “I’ve had too many 2nds with him, bless him, and that’s probably down to the jockey, but I can’t tell you how proud I am of him and the team behind him who know him so well — he literally is part of the family. It’s just a huge relief for me that I haven’t mucked it up too much and that he’s had another amazing run here.”

While the two-time five-star winner is nearing his twilight years, Oliver is still looking to the future with the game, gutsy Courage II son.

“I don’t want to keep him going too long, but every year, he’s still improving,” he says. “He’ll tell me when he’s had enough. I get on him for the first time on the 2nd of January every year and we look at each other and go, ‘do you want to go again?’ So far, it’s been a yes.”

Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Yesterday’s heroes of the day were Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, who skipped around the tough track and difficult conditions to post the fastest round of the day and climb from 34th to second — and although their two rails and 1.2 time penalties dropped them a placing to third today, they’ve been no less lauded for their contribution to Irish eventing. Their finish here makes Austin the first Irish competitor to make the podium at Badminton in forty years — the last to do so was the now racehorse trainer Jessica Harrington in 1983.

“Hopefully it’s a bit of a lift for eventing at home, and following somebody like Jessica Harrington into that position is pretty amazing,” says Austin. “I’m naturally disappointed; I don’t think he jumped as well on this ground as he normally jumps, and it caught up with us. But hey ho — we’re third at Badminton, on the podium with two heroes, two of the best riders in the world, beside me, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

One of the horses with the best chance of a clear round today was the hugely consistent Toledo de Kerser, and he and Tom McEwen duly delivered the goods. Their clear round inside the time allowed was one of just two in today’s competition, and it allowed them to climb one spot from the fifth place they’d held onto after each of the first two phases.

Although they’re arguably one of the most formidably competitive pairs on the circuit, having won a swathe of medals — including team gold and individual silver at the Tokyo Olympics — and a five-star, at Pau in 2019, Badminton has never really been the happiest of hunting grounds for them, nor for Tom generally.

“It’s the only one I’ve ever done any good at,” he laughs. “Finally! Badminton hasn’t really been my place — it might be my most local place, but I just do stupid things all the time. To come out and have a nice fun weekend with my best buddy, it’s quite nice really.”

Tom and Toledo had come into last year’s competition as the firm favourites, though their week ended early when they took a hugely uncharacteristic tumble late in the course. This year, he was still considered among the favourites to win, but his own attitude had shifted — instead of fighting for the top spot, he would just enjoy each phase with the enormously experienced sixteen-year-old. And so, though his time penalties yesterday might have stood in his way, he has no regrets about the way his week has played out — and nor should he.

“Cross country was so easy [for him], just a little bit slow,” he says. “But when they get a bit older, you have to look after them. There’ll be another day — maybe a Burghley in a dry season will be perfect for him. It’s so lovely that he’s had a great time; he was phenomenal all week and he’s come out really well.”

Though the pair have jumped countless excellent clear showjumping rounds together, this one stood out to Tom as a particular highlight.

“It’s probably the best round he’s jumped since Burghley when he came fourth about a billion years ago. I think it was the most connected round; there’s been the odd bit maybe, [where it’s] just not[[quite] as good. For me, there wasn’t one thing that I would change on the whole round. He was unreal, and he was absolutely loving it. If there was a second lap maybe we might have caught back up  a little bit more — though maybe not with Ros!”

Fighting off the onset of jetlag after a quick dash back from Kentucky on Sunday night might not be every rider’s idea of a dream lead-up to an event, but Tom credits the great performance of his ride there, runner up JL Dublin, with helping to set him up for success here.

“I think, probably, having an amazing run with Dubs last week has really helped,” he says. “He was phenomenal last weekend, so then to come out and do roughly the same again this week has been fantastic. Obviously this has been different, with proper testing conditions. It’s been testing for all — I think you’ve definitely seen some amazing riders and some amazing brains; people actually making decisions, and different decisions on course. It’s been very interesting to watch who did what, and when, around the course. And today, you can see how well they’ve all come out.”

Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Tom Jackson rounds out the top five, having completed Badminton with the twelve-year-old Capels Hollow Drift in similar circumstances to last year’s Burghley, where the pair were runners up: they began the week outside the top ten — fourteenth, in this case, on a 28 — and then delivered a swift clear across the country to move themselves towards the business end of the leaderboard. Then, on the final day, they once again delivered an elusive double clear round and got to watch themselves climb, climb, and climb some more. This time, it was from tenth to fifth place, a result that must surely put them well on the British selectors’ radar ahead of this summer’s European Championships at Haras du Pin.

“It makes him even more impressive, doesn’t it,” marvels Tom upon being told he’d delivered the first clear of the afternoon session. “What a horse he is. To give as much as he did yesterday and then come out today and give even more — he just goes above and beyond and it’s just a privilege to ride him. What a horse. I can’t stop saying it. He just gives you everything all the time, and what more can you ask for? I’m just so happy with him.”

One trip to France could well be in the bag for the pair now — but could another, next year, possibly be on the horizon? 30-year-old Tom’s hopeful but determinedly pragmatic about the prospect: “I’d like to, but I’m not sure we’re quite there yet. But we’re we’re getting there, hopefully we can keep edging closer.”

He’s followed in the top ten by an exultant Gemma Stevens in sixth place aboard Jalapeno, with whom she had a solitary rail to hold her post-cross-country spot on the leaderboard, Tim Price and Vitali, who dropped from fourth to seventh after tipping three rails — “the same as at Burghley, but a better three than at Burghley,” he says — Bubby Upton and Cola, who had two rails but nevertheless maintained their spot in the order and completed a climb from first-phase 31st place to eventual eighth, and Pippa Funnell and Majas Hope, who also had two rails and dropped down one place to tenth, 29 places up from their first-phase result.

Luc Château and Viens du Mont. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

That’s a lot of significant climbs to celebrate over the weekend, but none beat out France’s Luc Chateau, who won the Glentrool Trophy — awarded to the rider who executes the largest first-to-final-phase climb over the week — after rocketing up from 56th place after dressage to eventual 11th with Viens du Mont.

“My horse was tired after yesterday, but he has a huge, huge heart,” he says with a broad smile. This is just the horse’s second five-star: the pair finished ninth at Pau last year on his debut. He’s been an out-and-out cross-country machine throughout his career, and this is his 19th FEI run — and his nineteenth clean cross-country round in an international — and though he added 21.6 time penalties yesterday, which was considerably quicker than the average, he’s now added time in that phase in just five of those nineteen runs. His two rails today shouldn’t rule him out as a horse to keep an eye on with the European Championships around the corner.

Lillian Heard Wood and LCC Barnaby. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Lillian Heard Wood put a cap on a great week with the seventeen-year-old veteran campaigner LCC Barnaby, tipping a solitary rail but crossing the line inside the time allowed to finish 20th — an impressive forty-place climb from the first phase.

“I’m thrilled,” she says. “I just had the one down at the plank — I’ve had a plank down early before so I had a feeling I might have it down, and then I think I overcorrected. But honestly, I’m so happy. Normally if I have a rail, I’m a nightmare — I hate having rails. But it was muddy in there; he was exhausted yesterday; I was thinking the course was tough. I thought, ‘keep your wits about you, Lillian’, and it rode really smooth. I’m so happy to have done it.”

This is Barnaby’s thirteenth five-star, and so inevitably, Lillian has begun to think about what the finale of his prolific career might look like.

“Well, he’s really sound and he has been for a long time,” she says. “In the last year, and continuing on, each time I do [an event], it’s up to him — I’m not going to push him. The minute he feels like he’s less than he was, then I’m done. I’ve competed another five-star horse up to this age, and at the last one I did with him, he felt less than the horse he was before, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’. [Barnaby] didn’t feel that way this time, so we’ll see, but it’s totally up to him. He’s given me everything I need. If he wants to keep doing it, he can.”

His retirement, when it comes, will be an active one: “He doesn’t want to be done, so I’ll probably have to let some kid ride him!”

In any case, whether we get to enjoy watching him around another five-star or if Badminton does turn out to be his last hurrah, he’s been a huge part of Lillian’s life and a fundamental catalyst for so much of her learned experience — even if, or perhaps because, he’s always been a bit of a quirky soul.

“He’s actually been kind of a nightmare his whole life,” she laughs. “Now he’s wonderful! It actually makes you think about where they need to start in order to be a horse that can do this — it’s not necessarily an easy, simple, quiet horse. I’m thinking about the other horses in my barn and I’m like, ‘OK, this one’s a little bit wild — that’s probably a good sign!’ But it’s pretty cool because when you’re at an event like this, where it’s very difficult conditions, and I’m inexperienced at this event and I want to freak out, I just keep saying, ‘most experienced horse, most experienced horse, you’re gonna be OK, he’s the most experienced horse’. Even if you don’t know, he knows it’s OK. I probably won’t ever have this feeling again in my entire career, so I’m going to enjoy it.”

Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna set the standard in the first session. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Just one rider in this morning’s ten-strong jumping session managed to pin down a double clear round, and that was US competitor Katherine Coleman, who closed the book on Monbeg Senna‘s first five-star in fine style. The 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse maintained his high-flying jumping style, well demonstrated throughout yesterday’s cross-country, to make the influential course look very nearly easy.

“He was super,” enthuses Katherine. “I knew he had it in him — he’s such a super jumper. I just didn’t want to let him down out there, and he jumped brilliantly. What a horse!”

Though she made light work of the track, she explained that the challenge set by Kelvin Bywater was not at all insignificant: It’s really big — the depth of the water trays, that combination — I think it’s a proper Badminton show jumping track,” she says.

For Katherine, this week has been a particularly special one: it has marked her long-awaited return to five-star, a level at which she last competed back in 2017, when she contested both Badminton and Luhmühlen with Longwood. Now, after putting in the miles and the hard graft with the excellent Monbeg Senna, who she bought from Ireland’s Aoife Clark as a newly-minted Novice horse in 2016, she’s back — and not only has she nailed the long-awaited completion, she’s done so sans jumping penalties to take home a very respectable 23rd place.

“What a mental week,” she laughs. “This is his first five star and with the lack of preparations, when we set out yesterday I just wanted to complete, so we were a bit slow — but I still had a lot of horse left in the end, which is wonderful to know. I’m like, ‘ooh, I could have gone a little bit faster’, but I’d rather finish feeling that way than the other.”

As she told us yesterday, it truly does take a village to get to this point — and she’s had an enviable support team, from groom Hannah Quick to a full line-up of friends helming her on-site fan club.

‘It’s a huge team behind every horse that’s here,” she says. “Our groom probably got five hours of sleep in total this week. It’s a real testament to all the team at Badminton.”

And with that, we come to the end of another Badminton: it’s been a rather wet and wild one, but a competition to remember, certainly. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming days for some bonus content from the last couple of weeks of five-star action, but for now: Go Eventing.

The final top ten at Badminton 2023.

Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Stream – Badminton TV] [Radio Badminton] [Tickets] [EN’s Coverage]

Overnight runners-up Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue demonstrate the general mood of the morning at a soggy final horse inspection. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

After the close of competition yesterday, which saw thirty horses complete after battling the holding ground, we were all pretty unified in one sentiment: this morning’s horse inspection would be an interesting one. How many would withdraw overnight? How many would be sent to the holding box? In a passing chat with one of the commentary team, I put my bets on our numbers going down by three; he said he reckoned five.

British-based Kiwi Hollie Swain (28th) wrangles a very fresh Solo up the trot strip. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As it turned out, we were both wildly wrong, which is something I never begrudge when it comes to something like sound horses. All thirty of yesterday’s finishers materialised in front of Badminton House this morning, and all thirty were deemed fit and ready to compete by the ground jury of Angela Tucker, Xavier Le Sauce, and Andrew Bennie — and even better, several of those thirty still looked as though they could tackle another batch of solid fences, particularly fiery Solo, who spent most of the trot-up alternatively trying to canter down the strip or send poor Hollie Swain crowd-surfing.

Charlotte Holifield takes the top groom’s prize. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Treehouse Sporting Goods was on hand at the inspection to award a prize for the groom of the week, who was deemed to have taken the most robust care of the horse or horses in their charge throughout the course of the competition. The prize went the way of Charlotte Holifield, longtime groom for Oliver Townend’s Ballaghmor Class.

Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno, sixth overnight. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Now, we head into the showjumping finale, which will begin at 11.30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. EST) with the ten riders placed between 30th and 20th. The top twenty will jump at 2.55 p.m. (9.55 a.m. EST) — and although we saw all our competitors looking fresh and well this morning, there’s still plenty of potential for movement: the rain has kicked back into gear today, which will turn yesterday’s holding, sticky ground into the kind of bog that’ll be particularly tricky for horses to jump out of on the final day. There are some extraordinary margins to play with, which riders will be glad of — particularly overnight leader Ros Canter, who’ll head into the ring with Lordships Graffalo with a healthy nine penalties in hand over Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue. That’s two rails and two seconds over the time to play with — which could open up further if the riders before her struggle in the conditions. Third placed Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class sits 12.2 penalties off the lead, giving Ros three rails in hand over them, and from top spot to tenth place is a margin of 24.7, or six rails and a time penalty.

The top ten going into showjumping at Badminton.

Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Stream – Badminton TV] [Radio Badminton] [Tickets] [EN’s Coverage]

Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

There was a palpable air of trepidation ahead of cross-country day at Badminton, and fairly so: yesterday, the heavens opened heartily throughout the day, turning the grounds into a veritable mud bath — and a dry night and still, breezeless sunshine today meant that that slop quickly turned into the trickiest sort of sticky, holding ground for eventing on. Beyond that, there were MIMs clips galore to take into consideration, including that contentious one into the Lake — but now, with the day’s sport behind us, the relief is nearly tangible. It’s been something of a classic day of sport: there’s been room to climb from the low ebb of the leaderboard to very near the top; there have been thrills and spills that have ultimately proven harmless; and time and time again, we’ve seen wise decisions and good horsemanship, whether that’s been the decision to leave the stopwatch behind entirely (Harry Meade, notably, among others), to put one’s hand up when feeling a fit and well horse tire (Alex Bragg; Emily King, and more), or to withdraw entirely if the conditions weren’t quite right (we saw six pairs scratch before their ride, most notably seventh-placed Laura Collett and Dacapo, ninth-placed Tim Price and Coup de Coeur Dudevin, and tenth-placed Harry Meade and Tenareze).

Now, we’re left with 30 competitors down from the 64 who completed dressage, and there’s been no shortage of action, with seventeen eliminations, eleven retirements, and no shortage of safety devices activated — even if just a scant few opted for that direct route at the Lake, which largely jumped well when chosen. Chief among those non-completions were some of our top ten: overnight third-placed Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs, who activated a collapsible table and were later pulled up by stewards; overnight second-placed Kitty King and Vendredi Biats, who suffered some truly rotten luck when not quite making the distance of the widest fence on course at 5, and eleventh-placed Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On, who opted to walk back unscathed after a stop at the MARS Sustainability Bay water at 10.

Rosalind Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Dressage leaders Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo remain at the top of proceedings after delivering the second-fastest round of the day — adding just 11.6 time penalties — as one of the final pairings out on course. This was her second round of the day: the first, aboard Pencos Crown Jewel, didn’t just provide useful intel for her later trip with last year’s runner-up, it also netted her another spot in the top ten. She currently sits seventh with the mare with 26.8 time penalties, hoisting them up from seventeenth.

“It felt hard work out there — harder work than on the mare, in terms of galloping,” says Ros, who has nine penalties in hand going into the final phase. “The galloping definitely felt drying and sticky. He had to dig deep out there for the first time ever, which was probably a bit of a shock to him halfway round, but he’s so honest, and such a fantastic jumper — but he’s an economical jumper at the same time, so you can’t get much better.”

But although she and the rangy 17.1hh gelding, who she partnered to fourth at the World Championships last year, made the tough day’s sport look almost easy, going for the clock isn’t actually among the former World Champion rider’s natural skills, she explains.

“You’ll see me at Aston-le-Walls on Thursday, and I’ll be going around for 25 time faults,” she says with a laugh. “It takes quite a lot of mental work to get me in the frame of mind to be competitive. I tend to struggle at the smaller events, but I think I’ve turned it into a strength, and I work hard [on it] while I’m here. I don’t have much fun, and I do a lot of mental preparation, but I think I know myself now, and that pays off.”

Rosalind Canter and Pencos Crown Jewel. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Both Ros’s rides today came from the same breeder, Pennie Wallace, and share a dam, Cornish Queen — a testament to the rise and rise of British breeding efforts. ‘Jasmine’s’ run, too, was testament to the faith and patience that Ros and the horse’s owners, Kate James and Annie Makin, have held in the fourteen-year-old.

“She’s actually nearly 77% Thoroughbred, so I was fairly confident that she was going to go round. In hindsight, I could have pushed a bit harder, because she came home still very responsive and still jumping well — but I couldn’t be prouder of her really. She’s only little, and I never really dreamt she’d go around Badminton, but she just did.”

Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

There’s been so much discussion within the sport about the importance of cross-country, and the influence it must hold over the outcome of a competition — and though there’s no doubt that the conversation about safety devices, all-weather surfaces, and tired horses will continue on at fever pitch over the coming weeks, there’s one thing that can’t be disputed: today’s Badminton track really did allow extraordinary cross-country horses and performances to rise to the forefront. Though there’s several riders who gave brilliant examples of that — take France’s Luc Chateau and Viens du Mont, for example, who climbed from 56th to 11th, or Switzerland’s Felix Vogg and Cartania, who rose from 42nd to 13th — the most exemplary of the lot was Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue, who seemed to skim right over the top of the boggy ground to deliver an unruffled, truly world-class clear round with the fastest time of the day, adding just 10.8 time penalties. That was good enough to boost the Irish partnership, who finished best of their nation at Tokyo despite their travelling reserve call-up, from equal 34th all the way to overnight second place. And even better? The gelding pranced his way back through the finish looking ready for another loop of the course — a testament, he says, to the work the O’Connor Eventing team put in day in and day out to keep ‘Salty’ feeling top-notch.

“He’s the real deal, and he’s been the real deal for a few years now and luckily he’s healthy, he’s well, and I’ve got a great team at home,” says Austin. “They do a great job — as good a job as I do getting here.”

Though his round was, to the viewing eye, the easiest of the day, Austin tells us that Salty still didn’t find today’s course and conditions a walk in the park: “He just tried the hardest he’s had to try around five-star. God, did he try.”

This, though, is what we do this sport for, he explains — the chance to face an unexpected challenge head on, and rise to the occasion.

“Eventing is about weather, and weather changes,” says Austin. “It was hard work even for a very, very good horse, but surely to God, that’s what eventing’s all about.”

And even with that time — a lightning fast one, considering how many horses we saw come in two minutes over the 11:35 optimum — Austin reckons there were a couple of places on Eric Winter’s course where he could have snuck a few more seconds into his pocket.

“He was a little careful down the Savills Staircase to begin with, which I didn’t mind because it was better than being rash,” he says, ” and actually, the hedge to the narrow little ditch [at 13ABCD] had to get a little bit agricultural, but otherwise, everything walked as it rode.”

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Oliver Townend remains in third place overnight, though with a different horse than the one he’d started the day with: he was third out of the startbox this morning with the former Andrew Nicholson ride Swallow Springs, and was certainly one of the earliest riders that fellow competitors in the riders’ tent would have been keen to watch for useful intel, but the usually very consistent 15-year-old never seemed to truly fire on all cylinders from the get-go, and the pair were ultimately pulled up at fence 24 after banking the second of the collapsible tables at 19AB and then appearing to bank another fence, too. But when he left the startbox for the second time, this time on veteran Ballaghmor Class, with whom he’s never finished outside the top five at this level, the round was a different story entirely. They made best use of their long partnership — which has seen them win both Burghley and Kentucky previously — to get home with a relatively swift 21.2 time penalties, moving them from sixth to third overnight, despite riding on some of the worst of the day’s ground.

“He’s very, very special, and I know I always say it, but I’m not eloquent enough to tell everyone how much he means to me,” says Oliver. “We’ve been together since he was four years old and we know each other inside and out. We’re great mates. There’s no reason for him, at this stage in his life, to do what he’s just done, but he’s like me — he can be a little bit of a nightmare at home when he’s not busy! We’re very similar in character, and we’re both just a lot better with each other. Life would be a lot more boring for me without him, and without those special old horses. You can just rely on them.”

Though they got the job done, their round wasn’t without its occasional rough-and-ready moments, including a tricky jump at the HorseQuest Quarry at 27:  “I trusted him a few times out there,” says Oliver. “When he finds the ground hard work or he starts getting a little tired, or a little bit stuck in gear, he’s very difficult to shorten — he’s basically a great stayer. A couple of times today I’ve not been able to see a distance, and I’ve thought, ‘just keep going until the stride pattern lands on the fence’. And just about every time, it’s worked. He helped me out coming out of the Quarry — when I came out of the corner we were a little bit all over the show, and then we went on the big one. It’s moments like that that you think, ‘thank god I’m sat on you’ — because if he had put down, that’s what makes you look like a bit of a monkey, or have a bad fall, or do something stupid, whereas those good horses dig you out.”

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Tim Price may have halved his chances at a win when deciding to withdraw his Maryland 5* champion Coup de Coeur Dudevin, but Tokyo ride Vitali more than stepped up to the plate as one of the earliest horses out, romping home with 24 time penalties — which remained the fastest round of the day for no short time — to move from equal 11th to overnight fourth. Now, though, he’ll have to contend with tomorrow’s showjumping finale — arguably the two-phase specialist gelding’s weakest phase at this point in his career.

“He’s just an athletic horse — he sort of flings himself and throws himself, and he’s got a long stride and doesn’t fight in front of the fence,” says Tim. “Those things [make him] quite a handy five-star horse, but we’re still working on the show jumping. I’m hoping for a better go that tomorrow, and that would be the last piece on the armoury to set him up for his future. He’s really cool, and he really gave me everything I asked him — to stand off, move up, stay close, operate. He was super with everything, so I was really happy with him.”

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The mixed zone at a major event is a funny sort of place: often, it’s a hive of activity, with rather too many bodies clustered into a small space, all watching different horses and having different conversations and, at the same time, interviewing a number of riders who all seem to appear in swift, thick groupings after a long break of no one at all. But when Olympic team and individual silver medallists Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser set out on course, it was different — and everyone, no matter which country they’d come from to report on proceedings, fell silent and jumped nearly every fence along with him.

It’s hardly surprising, really: the pair, who won Pau in 2019 and have been among the most consistent competitors in the sport in the last number of years, came to this event last year as the hot favourites, only to suffer a shock fall in the latter third and shelve their dream for another year. This time, though, Tom — fresh off a second place finish at Kentucky with JL Dublin — changed his mindset entirely as he left the startbox with his exceptional sixteen-year-old.

“I’ve messed up here beyond belief too many times with the most amazing horse, so I came this year with the idea of actually having fun,” he explains. That served them beautifully: they put in a very, very good clear round, though their 30.8 time penalties — “perhaps I could have been more positive in places” — meant that they wouldn’t climb from their overnight fifth position, which they hold going into tomorrow’s final horse inspection.

“To be fair, he put in a near enough perfect round in terms of jumping performance, but the ground is horrific — it’s now really holding, and it’s tough on them.”

To mitigate the difficulty of the conditions, Tom found several key places on course where he could slow down a touch and let his horse catch his breath, which might not have been a tactic that lent itself to speed, but certainly will be one he’ll be grateful for tomorrow, when he tackles the finale of the competition on one of the best showjumping horses in the field.

“There were a few places where we could recover — for me, it was sort of the first part, which is quite difficult in terms of knowing how you’re going, and the lake, weirdly enough, before we dropped down by the house,” he says. “And actually, out the back was very good going where I could recover, and I could gain a bit back, and he was really recovering very well — but it was hard, hard work. For him to have some big jumping efforts — and especially with the two big oxers at the end — you have to conserve. You have to have the mindset that we’ve got rain forecast all day tonight and tomorrow, so we’ll need some left in the tank.”

Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Just a scant few of yesterday’s top ten remain at the business end of proceedings after cross-country, and one of those is Gemma Stevens (nee Tattersall), who channelled the spirit of her late, great Arctic Soul to bring Jalapeno home to sixth place, dropping just two places from fourth with her 32.4 time penalties. Her air punch of exaltation said it all, though: she and her team have put an extraordinary amount of work and thought into fine-tuning the mare’s fitness routine on her return from injury, and this, her first five-star since Pau in 2019, has been a testament to that effort.

“It was really, really good — but also terrifying, really hard!” says Gemma with a laugh. “[It’s] such a relief to get to the end, I’m not gonna lie. It’s really tough out there today — I don’t think the conditions could be any tougher. We’ve got drying, soggy ground, and sun with no wind, but my horse was amazing. She kept trying the whole way, she kept jumping really well, and so I kept quietly, gently just pushing her along basically, but they just don’t seem to travel through this ground, so it was hard.”

Gemma was one of a huge number of riders to opt for the longer — though only very slightly — route at the lake, which was a last minute change of plans when the mare came into the complex feeling just a touch starstruck.

“I had every intention of going all straight ways for sure, including at the lake,” she says. “She jumped the oxers and the two tables really well and I thought, ‘Do I, don’t I?’ But then, as I came around the corner to jump the jetty just before, I felt her go, ‘bloomin’ heck!’ And I thought ‘no, go long’, because that was my instinct at that point. And I think it was the right one.”

Of course, despite the lake’s late appearance in the course this year, it was far from the last big question on course: Gemma was also among the considerable number of riders to express her dislike of fence 26, the Jubilee Clump Brush, which was an angled ditch and brush fence on a turn — and it was only once she could get that big leap behind her that she felt that homecoming rush.

“I had to kick and I just thought, ‘I hate this brush, and I just want to get home now!’,” she says. “So I went round, and I saw the stride, and I thought ‘Uh oh, here we go, we’re off. We’re going now, Jala!’ And to be fair, she went. Then she jumped actually beautifully all the way home, and actually I felt like she galloped up to the end really well.”

Bubby Upton and Cola. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Young rider and recent university graduate Bubby Upton put her Badminton demons to bed — she’d picked up a run-out here at the final fence last year — by executing a classy clear with 24.8 time penalties aboard her longtime partner Cola, boosting her well up the rankings from overnight 31st on 31.4 to 8th as we head into the final day.

“I don’t think [the round] was quite as polished as Burghley and 99.9% of here last year,” says Bubby. “There were a couple of moments where he didn’t quite go on the stride that I thought he would and I think, to be honest, that’s probably the deep ground. It was so tough out there. I’ve never quite had to ride as positively as I did out there. But he kept plugging along; he dug so deep, and boy did he work hard for me out there, so I’m so proud of him.”

Though they were among the fastest rounds of the day, Cola is actually a horse that Bubby has never found naturally swift — it’s his consistency and rhythm, she explains, that helped her to get home relatively quickly in the tough conditions.

“His top speed is not fast at all, but I never have to pull on the reins,” she says. “I know him inside out and he just chugs away in the same pace — keeps going, keeps digging deep — and that’s why he’s fast. I can waste so little time, and he’s so easy that I can get away from fences is really fast. But I think I’m kind of kicking myself a little bit because if I just sat a bit quieter a couple of times he wouldn’t have had to chip in and scramble out of things, and then he probably would have come home even more full of running.”

Pippa Funnell and Majas Hope. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

As just the fifth pair out of the box this morning, Pippa Funnell and Majas Hope were one of our true trailblazers — and that’s not the first time they’ve provided that sort of role. At the European Championships in 2019 they were the British pathfinders, which is a fitting role for them to take: Pippa’s experience, and the gelding’s exceptional cross-country form, more than make up for how tricky he finds the first phase. Today, as he did then, he put the dressage well behind him, delivering the goods and executing a swift climb. He now goes in to the final day in ninth place, 30 places up from yesterday, after adding 24.8 time penalties to his 32.6 on the flat.

“He’s the best horse in the world to sit on in this phase, and the worst horse in the world to sit on for the first phase,” says Pippa, who explains that although he’s a real specialist in this phase, he’s not necessarily easy to prepare. “I’ve got so much confidence in him: he knows his job. But he has to be surprised — I can’t warm up, so the first fence I jumped was the first fence [on course[. You can’t go near the warm up fences, and so you just have to hope that your eye is in.”

Pippa’s ride was interrupted by a hold just before she came to the controversial lake question, with its divisive MIM-clipped direct route — and that hold, she explains, influenced her choice to skip the popular indirect option and give it a jolly good crack. She was just the second rider of the day to make this choice; the first, New Zealand’s Dan Jocelyn, had gone just before her and activated the safety device — she, on the other hand, executed it sans penalties, though she wasn’t sure until she’d returned whether she’d pulled the feat off or not.

“William ran over to say ‘don’t do the lake’,” she says. “Meanwhile, I had spectators saying, ‘are you aware that you’re missing the left fore?’ And I went, ‘Like, an over reach boot?’ and I saw I’ve got an overreach boot, and they said ‘shoe’, and I said, ‘Oh well, I can’t do much about that!’ So psychologically I did think, ‘Oh no, I’m missing a shoe, am I going to do the lake?’ Anyway, he jumped the table and made that distance short, and he felt so good, so I thought, ‘If I can’t do it on him, I’ve got no chance.’ And then I did it and I didn’t get a very good stride! And then I heard this clank and I thought, ‘Oh no — but I can’t look around now, I’ve got to look at the corner.'”

Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Last year’s Burghley runners-up Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift take a little leap up the leaderboard from 14th to 10th overnight, adding 30.4 time penalties to their dressage score of 28 and once again showing the up-and-coming young horse’s exceptional ability over a tough track.

“He’s just class,” beams Tom. “It’s his second Badminton, his third five-star, and he just gets better and better. Those conditions are really difficult out there, and it’s not his favourite going, but he just dug so deep and really gave me everything.”

Though many riders will choose to watch some of the early action ahead of their rounds at major events like this, Tom was one of several who opted to avoid the screens and rely on instinct — though he did take some vital feedback to heart.

“I got a bit of feedback from the warmup saying to forget about the watch — horses are just getting tired, and that’s sort of what I did,” he says. “The feedback I got was, at the lake everyone was looking quite tired, and actually there when I kicked on he really started to move away and I thought ‘well, maybe I’ve got a bit more under me than I thought.’ But coming up to Huntsman’s, I felt him go, ‘Okay, are we nearly done yet?’

That was when he brought in the big guns in his toolbox: “I don’t normally talk when I’m going around, but that’s the first time I was getting the voice out and encouraging him along — like, ‘come on boy, keep going!”

Lillian Heard Wood and LCC Barnaby. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Both our US competitors completed with clear rounds, too. Lillian Heard Wood now sits 24th, climbing from 60th after adding 48 time penalties with the veteran campaigner, LCC Barnaby, who now has thirteen five-star runs under his belt and roundly put their Badminton demons of last year, when Lillian fell on course, to bed.

“He was awesome,” says Lillian. “I went pretty slow, because when he started out, I could feel him labouring in the mud — not like he was tired, but he was like, ‘What is this?’ And I really wanted to finish, and maybe I let that get too much in my head, but I was like, ‘It’s okay if you want to do it at this speed — I just want to do it, so however you want to do it, I’m down!’ It’s probably one of his last runs — I didn’t want to not finish it!”

Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna now sit 26th, up one place from 27th, after adding 62.8 time penalties — but both horse and rider impressed when they hit some tricky patches on course and exhibited serious stickability and gumption, particularly at the solar panel water question at 15AB, where the horse nearly jumped Katherine out of the tack, but both stuck to their line and made it out the other side.

“[He’s got] so much scope,” marvels Katherine. “There was a lot of prayers said before this event, I have to be honest. Especially with the ground being as it is, and our lack of runs. I just set out and was like, ‘I just want to come home,’ and set it out at that pace where I’m not trying to beat him around, I’m just trying to finish. It’s his first first-five star, and he does have tons of scope, which you do want to be sat on for the last day, but I was just worried. But God, he was so good through the solar panels, because I was a little bit late to power him up there, and he was a little further off of it than you want to be at that fence. So I was like, ‘Whoa!’ and obviously layed all over the back, and had to sit tight there. But what a horse to jump out. I mean, I just couldn’t be prouder of him.”

This is Katherine’s first trip to Badminton since 2017, and the gravity of the moment wasn’t lost on her.

“Especially being on a horse I’ve produced, it’s really special,” she says. “There’s no other event like it, I don’t think. Especially when you when you watch — you’re back in the barn and you’re thinking ,’I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it.’ And then you go out there and you get a horse that gives you their heart, and then it’s just so special.”

Tomorrow’s final horse inspection begins at 8.30 a.m. (3.30 a.m. EST), and will be followed by the first batch of horses and riders at 11.30 a.m. (6.30 a.m. EST). The top twenty will jump at 2.55 p.m. (9.55 a.m. EST). Keep it locked on EN for all the updates — and until then, Go Eventing. Or go to bed. Or go to the Lake for a drink! The world is your oyster!

The top ten after cross-country at Badminton.

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Fence 27AB at Badminton, the Horsequest Quarry, will now feature just one element.

Today’s tempestuous weather conditions saw over 7mm of rain dumped over Badminton, which has led to some alterations to the cross country course. These are as follows:

Fence 15: Lightsource BP Pond  – hardcore stone footing to be placed behind the B element.

Fence 17: The Lemieux Mound – the B element, which was to be a choice of two brush boxes, has been removed, leaving just the A element, an upright rail atop a hill.

Fence 21: The Badminton Lake – the water level to be lowered.

Fence 26: The Jubilee Clump Brush – some decoration around the fence will be removed to make it a smoother line on the approach.

Fence 27: The HorseQuest Quarry – the A element to be removed, leaving just one of the two stone walls, which will be situated on the flat at the apex of the uphill approach.

There is no alteration to the optimum time, time allowed or distance. You can check out the original course in full in our comprehensive course walk with designer Eric Winter here.

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Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs lead the way at Badminton. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The first half of the first day of competition is behind us at the 2023 Badminton Horse Trials, presented by MARS Equestrian, and leading the charge into the lunch break is Oliver Townend with the first of his two rides, the former Andrew Nicholson mount Swallow Springs. They set an early standard as the third pair into the ring this morning, and the ground jury of Angela Tucker, Andrew Bennie, and Xavier Le Sauce roundly rewarded their test with a 23.2 that wouldn’t be usurped.

The score is a career best at CCI5* for the 15-year-old gelding (Chillout x Kilila, by Cult Hero), eclipsing his previous personal best — a 23.6 — achieved at Burghley last year. The very good score came despite one mistake: as the Irish gelding entered the extended trot, he broke to canter for one early stride. The rest of the test, though, was a testament to the marking power of accuracy: though Swallow Springs hasn’t got big or extravagant paces, he’s been meticulously produced, and delivered a very technically correct performance.

Oliver’s two rides this year are at the peak of their careers in their mid-teens — second ride Ballaghmor Class, who will perform his test tomorrow, is sixteen — and to this end, Oliver credits his team on the ground for keeping them feeling their very best.

“It’s great for the team; we’ve come here with two older horses, and I don’t think they’ve ever felt as good as they do now, whatever the result. To turn up with a fifteen- and a sixteen-year-old and for them to still be improving is very positive for everybody at home, who all put in the early starts. It’s a very good result.”

Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Oliver originally had five horses entered — a testament to the remarkable strength in depth of his string — and was able to use those extra entries to swing the drawn order the way around he’d hoped for his two horses.

“We tried to get Swallow Springs on early enough,” he explains. “You can only do so much Badminton to help yourself with the draw and so forth, but at the same time, we’re very happy with where we drawn. I think that will suit him down to the ground; I’ll be able to pick fresh ground. He’s the quickest event horse I’ve ever ridden, so fingers crossed.”

Our friends at EquiRatings discovered that Swallow Springs will be Oliver’s eightieth starter at this level since 2008 – a remarkable (and, we have to assume, exhausting) effort – and one that has seen him hone his craft to something of a science over the years. But experience isn’t the only thing that’s helping him to consistently make a bid for the lead at this level – he has another weapon in his arsenal, too.

“Better dressage horses!” he laughs. “I always felt that I had a certain amount of feel, perhaps, but I wasn’t able to do it stylishly. I’ve obviously always rode a lot of young horses and breakers and problem horses, and now I’m on the raw material — so there’s no excuse not to go in there and do a nice job. Hopefully I’m continuing to improve, and hopefully I’m getting more relaxed in that. But at the same time, the horsepower is a different world to what it used to be.”

Even with those many, many starts behind him, Oliver, like all the rest of us, finds it easy to get caught up in the thrall of Badminton, and all that it means to the sport: “It’s just special to be here,” he says. “I wore out VHS videotapes watching this place [when I was a kid], and as you get older you think, are you going feel the same when you get here? But the minute you arrive at the stable yard, you know you’re somewhere very special. It’s just a huge privilege to be here and as I get older, I’m enjoying it more and more. I’m trying to take the pressure off myself and kind of smile occasionally and just enjoy the whole thing. I’ve got two beautiful horses, with beautiful chances, and I’m just enjoying being here.”

Gemma Stevens and Jalapeño are all smiles after their nearly-leading test. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

The very last rider of the morning batch might have had to wait a while for her score to come through, but when it did, Gemma Stevens‘s whoop of joy could be heard throughout the stadium. She earned a 23.3 (“damn it, I was so close to beating Oliver,” she laughs) with Chris Stone’s Jalapeno, who returns to five-star for the first time since 2019 after over a year off and no small amount of care and patience from Gemma and her team.

That score marks Gemma’s own personal best at the level – an accolade that usurps another Jala test.

“It was actually really enjoyable — the horse is lovely to ride,” says Gemma. “She’s very soft and fluent and she felt completely relaxed. I could really ask for the movements, and I felt like I tried to ride every single inch of grass of that test — and she let me.”

Though Gemma is best known, perhaps, for her longtime partnership with the late, great Arctic Soul, this was always his trickiest phase – and now, finding herself aboard a horse who can really relish the atmosphere of the first phase is a particular joy.

“I felt myself really enjoying it — and that was just so nice after years of sitting on the old boy,” she laughs. “It’s just really nice to go in there and sit up and enjoy it — and try to smile!”

Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

We last saw Jala, who was previously partnered by Belgium’s Karin Donckers, take on this level at Pau in 2019, where she sustained an injury that saw her sit out all of 2020 and a large chunk of 2021. But in bringing her back, Gemma has left no stone unturned where management and fitness are concerned, which means that her routine coming into a big event — such as Blenheim, where she finished in the top ten in both 2021 and 2022 — are wholly different from the regime that Gemma’s other horses undergo.

“She’s been swimming once a week and galloping once a week since the middle of January, because I wanted a long, slow process,” says Gemma. “I didn’t want to pummel her with too much at once, because she gets a bit sore in her back and her body. So we’ve gone for the long, slow approach, and I’ve been so careful with her prep. It’s all been about working on her strength — like, really just keeping her happy and strong and actually not doing too much schooling. In a two week period, I’d probably only school her three times. She goes to the water treadmill twice a week, and she canters, and she’s been doing some fitness hacks — very slow trotting up hills. I feel like I’ve learned how to manage her, she’s a lovely, lovely mare, but she’s fragile. I think it’s all about horsemanship, every time you get a horse fit, you learn something new.”

Just as Jala’s customised fitness routine has helped her blossom, so, too, has Gemma’s own workout regime.

“I actually did twenty minutes of Pilates before I got on today!” she says. “I think I’ve just grown up a bit. I’ve got stronger. I’ve been working really hard on my own fitness. hat’s probably what it has changed a little bit — getting myself really, really fit and strong and feeling better.”

That Pilates session may have had another knock-on benefit: “I felt really relaxed today,” she says. “Just chilled, and I went in there, and yes, you get heart flutters, but I didn’t feel tight or tense, I just felt relaxed. So maybe I’m just getting old!”

Tim Price and Vitali. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Tim Price‘s Tokyo mount Vitali put the naughtiness of yesterday’s first horse inspection behind him to deliver a sweet test that, while not quite in the realms of his 21.3 at Burghley last year, earned them a competitive enough 27.1 for third at the lunch break. While it’s not quite what he was aiming for, he’s tempering his expectations — after all, he explains, there are still two very big jobs to do.

“You’ve got to be philosophical in this game, and while he’s an outstanding dressage horse, I want him to be an authentic five-star horse — and so it’s about three phases,” he says. “So I’m just trying to spread my feelings across the three phases, even here straight after the dressage. [The score] could have been a lot lower had I not had a couple of fluffy bits in the canter. The trot work was some of his best, and he’s a fantastic dressage horse, so unless you absolutely maximise on all those elements of what he can deliver on the flat, you will be a little bit disappointed. But a 27 with a few mistakes is still not too bad.”

Like many five-star horses, Vitali is a funny sort of soul – which is why Tim would always rather find himself on board than trying to trot him up in front of the ground jury.

“I don’t know the best way to describe him, but he needs support,” he says. “And when you give him the right support at the right time in the right way, then he can look soft and lovely. He’s a fun horse — I really like him and I respect him immensely for what he does.”

Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Last year’s Burghley runners-up Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift sit fourth at this early phase after putting a 28 on the board — the 12-year-old Irish gelding’s best score yet at this level, despite left-to-right changes that still aren’t quite established.

“I’m over the moon with the horse,” says Tom. “I know there’s a couple of little mistakes in there, but on the whole, I felt that he was going better than he’s ever gone, so I couldn’t ask much more. He’s improving all the time, and particularly the change on one particular rein has been difficult, but they were clean this time — just a little bit exuberant. So we’re definitely going in the right direction, and he’s still a relatively young horse so hopefully we can keep edging closer. He’s a lovely mover and a very rideable horse, but he’s not necessarily the biggest flashiest mover, but I thought he felt really smart.”

Harry Meade and Away Cruising. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Harry Meade rounds out the top five at this stage after a smart test with longtime campaigner Away Cruising, who posted a 29 — another level personal best for the horse, who has only slipped sub-30 on one previous occasion from his six prior starts at the level.

“He’s a lovely, Irish, old-fashioned type; he’s not a big-moving warmblood, but I was really pleased with him — he put in a very solid test and didn’t really miss a bit,” says Harry. “Last year, I kicked myself because I wanted him fresh and I shortened the warm-up to do that, and then he was too fresh, so this year it was once bitten, twice shy – I worked him a little bit longer, perhaps ten minutes too long, and he just lost a bit of his sparkle. But it was a lovely clear round of a test, so job done!”

Dressage will commence again from 14.15 BST (9.15 a.m. EST), with Tom Rowland and Possible Mission launching us into the second half of the day. You can follow along live via Badminton TV, follow along with our up-to-the-minute live updates, and tune back in for the full report shortly after the close of play. Until then: Go Eventing!

The top ten at the lunch break on day one of Badminton.

Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Stream – Badminton TV] [Radio Badminton] [Tickets] [EN’s Coverage]

Badminton 2023 is upon us, and with it, another chance for the EN team to put our metaphorical money where are mouths are and pick our favorites for a big result this year. Here are our choices — let us know yours in the comments!

Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Tilly Berendt

Winner: I think Kitty King has come here with a point to prove, especially after a Burghley last year that she so nearly scooped. She and Vendredi Biats put their best five-star score on the board there — a truly ludicrous 21.2 that saw them lead going into cross-country – and had it not been for a truly unfortunate triggered MIM at those achingly wide oxers, they’d have finished second. She’s been so close to a big one for so long, and I think the fire is truly lit — now that ‘Froggy’ is past his naughty years, he’s a serious competitor and wouldn’t be at all out of place on the illustrious roster of Badminton winners.

Best Foreign Entry: I’m choosing not to consider any of our British-based Kiwis ‘foreign’, because otherwise it’s very difficult to look past Tim Price and Caroline Powell, and frankly, I’d like to give someone else a moment in the sun here. I’m a big fan of Aisprit de la Loge, the ride of France’s Gireg le Coz, who made his Badminton debut last year, finishing in the top twenty after a very good dressage and cross-country and an uncharacteristically lacklustre showjumping. Pau, in October, didn’t go quite to plan for them, but I think they’ll be back with a bang here — and if they can stick to their usual showjumping form, they should pin down a great result. Special mention, too, must go to one of my favourite horses, Lithuanian competitor Aistis Vitkauskas‘s Commander VG. I’ve been following this horse since he was a nine year old, and while his first and final phases will stop him from being truly competitive here, he’s an absolute joy to watch on cross-country, where he’s kind, genuine, and just plain fun. I think he’ll gain a lot of fans this week.

Best Debutant (horse or rider): It’s hard to call Felix Vogg‘s Cartania inexperienced when she’s performed so well at both a World Championships and a Europeans (14th and 8th respectively, for what it’s worth) — but in the grand scheme of things, she is still pretty green, and will be making her debut at the top level this week. She’s flying rather under the radar, as she tends to even on the continent, where she lives in the shadow of stable star and 5* winner Colero, but sometimes those are exactly the right conditions that a horse like this can use to throw out a result that surprises everyone except their rider. I think a very good week could be in store for this pair.

Best Mare: It’s a tough call between Ros Canter‘s gritty, gutsy Bramham runner up Pencos Crown Jewel and the young phenom Greenacres Special Cavalier, who finished fifth in her five-star debut at Pau last season. The first one is my ‘head’ choice and the latter is my ‘heart’ choice, and I’m going to chalk my indecision up to jet lag and keep them both in here, because I think they could both very easily finish in the top ten.

Spoiler Alert: Watch out for Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno — this super blood mare has been out of action for a fair while, but Gemma and her team have put tonnes of manpower and thought into strengthening her for her comeback, and she’s been looking brilliant in the lead-up. I think they could sneak well into the mix, especially if time becomes a big factor on Sunday.

Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Amanda Chance:

Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

Cheg Darlington

Winner: Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser – I just can’t help thinking that this will be their year. After the high of winning Olympic team gold and individual silver in Tokyo, and the disappointment of last year’s Badminton (my jaw was literally on the ground with them when they fell), coupled with Tom’s great form at Kentucky last week (where he was second with JL Dublin), he’s got to be fired up for this one. Although… my heart’s set on Kitty King and Vendredi Biats. I believe this is a horse and rider that’s overdue a big win and that they were unlucky not to be even closer to the top of the leaderboard than they were at both Badminton and Burghley last year (they were 7th and 6th). I would love to see it happen for them here.

Best Foreign Entry: This is a total heart pick but I’m going with Lillian Heard Wood and LCC Barnaby because I think he’s such a game kinda guy – also, I had a pony as a teenager called Barnaby – he even looked like his 5* namesake. With eight 5* completions together, Lillian and her Barnaby have rather better form than I managed with my Barnaby, and I really hope that they can add Badminton to that list this year on their second time of trying. LCC Barnaby’s 17 now and he’s been such a game campaigner for Lillian over the years that I think he deserves it.

Best Debutant (horse or rider): Kristina Hall-Jackson and CMS Google. When you hear Kristina speak about Google, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the excitement she has for their partnership. They’ve completed at all but one of their 24 FEI starts together and Kristina says the mare is ‘as brave as a lion’, something that will definitely come in handy on Badminton cross country day. They’re an exciting prospect and I’d love to see all that potential realized this weekend.

Best Mare: Quindiva – Alex Bragg’s ride. With her penchant for double clears, and her trend for sub-30 dressage scores, this could be a very successful week for the little mare, despite it being her first time at the level. She’s known to be a diva and we all know that with great talent comes big personality. It’d be cool to see Alex up there too.

Spoiler Alert: It wouldn’t exactly be a spoiler if he did win it – EquiRatings have him down as favorite – but this could be Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs’ year. He was 5th with Andrew Nicholson in 2019 and 3rd with Oliver last year, and I just have a feeling that it may be third time lucky for this lovely horse. Having said that, Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift are definitely worth a shout out – they were 16th at Badminton last year – the horse’s first 5* – and then went on to finish 2nd at Burghley – that’s got to have Tom feeling great about his chances this weekend. Also… World No.1 Tim Price and Vitali (they were 3rd at Burghley last year) are on my radar – particularly after all the show jumping practice they’ve had recently on the Sunshine Tour – and of course Coup de Coeur Dudevin who Tim won Maryland 5* with last year when the horse was just a ten-year-old… Oh boy! It’s all to play for at Badminton!

Wills Oakden and Oughterard Cooley. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Diana Gilbertson

Winner: My inability to make a decision plagues me on a day to day basis, so to pick just one winner was agonising, I kid you not. I mean, I could just go for an easy, sentimental cop out and say they’re all winners just for getting to Badminton. Let’s face it, it’s pretty much the pinnacle of eventing, and to even get a horse here is no mean feat.

That being said, I have spent far too much time thinking about this over the last few weeks to take the easy road so, I’m going to settle on Tim Price. Or Tom McEwen. Or Tim Price. OHMYGOODNESS THIS IS HARD!

No. I’m going to settle on the Individual Silver medallists from Tokyo 2021, Tom and Toledo de Kerser. Having won Pau 5* in 2019, they are long overdue another 5* win. They took a nasty fall here last year, and who knows who would have lifted the trophy if they hadn’t –he could well have given Ms. Collett a very good run for her money. Reliable (despite that blip) in the jumping phases – his show jumping record is one of the best in the field – and usually at least top 5 after dressage, Toledo and Tom will certainly be looking to lay their ghosts to rest and nab themselves the top spot.

Best Foreign Entry: Can you count Tim Price as a ‘foreign entry?’ I mean, I know he’s a Kiwi, but the World No.1 and his wife (and World No.2 ),  Jonelle have lived in the UK so long they’re almost natives. Still, I’m going to focus firmly on the NZ after his  name, and ignore such minor details.

Tim brings forward two incredible horses, the Maryland 5* winner from last year, Coup de Coeur Dudevin, and Vitali, second at Burghley last year. It’s impossible to choose between them (or at least it is for me). The former has less 5* experience, but his natural ability  is obvious and I doubt Tim is bringing him here for an easy jaunt around. Similarly, Vitali has all the right ingredients, as long as he remembers to pick his knees up on the final day, his only weakness.

I refuse to pick one or the other – they’re both incredible horses, and certainly ones to keep an eye on for the future, so I’d expect them both to be in the top 10, if not higher.

Best Debutant (horse or rider): Tough one, given there are several horses lining up here for the first time – the current Badminton champion, Laura Collett is riding one herself. So I’m going to narrow it right the way down to a first time rider and first time horse, Georgia Bartlett and Spano de Nazca. Georgia has had Nono for 7 years now, and they have done everything together, all the way from BE100. She calls him her ‘best friend,’ and he might not be right up front after dressage, but his fantastic form across country could well see this pair climb the ranks. Trust me, this is a pair worth watching.

Best Mare: Again, there are SO many incredible mares in the field this year (girl power!), but for me, there are two standouts…Ros Canter’s Pencos Crown Jewel, and Caroline Powell’s Greenacres Special Cavalier.

My ultimate pick is probably the latter. She may well be less experienced than Ros’ ‘Jasmine,’ but her form thus far is impossible to ignore. She didn’t have a single jumping fault last year, and came fifth in her first 5* last year at Pau, even though Caroline openly admitted she was really only taking her there for the experience. She clearly has great faith in the mare then, to enter her here, and given Caroline’s own prowess and experience, it seems silly to look past Cav as the best mare in the field. I would even go so far as to say she could be a Badminton winner in years to come…

Spoiler Alert: Well, I’ll freely admit, I’m not really sure what this means. But since it’s my own choice, and so my own interpretation, I’m going to say it’s a result no one saw coming. So I’m going to completely disregard all of the sensible and informed chat I’ve given thus far in my picks and say that ladies and gents, girls and boys, Kings and Queens, your Badminton 2023 winner is…

Wills Oakden and Oughterard Cooley (GBR). Admittedly I’m biased – Wills lives quite close to me and I’ve admired his quiet determination for years – but this man is a serious talent, as is this horse. 13^th on their Burghley debut last year, they are capable of a competitive first phase score, and could well climb again after cross country. Ok, I will admit it would be a massive curveball (sorry Wills) if they took actual first place, but I am telling you, they will be RIGHT up there in the final placings. About time too: Wills has been knocking on the door for years now, and its about time  he had his moment

Alex Bragg and Quindiva. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ema Klugman

Winner: Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser (GBR)

Toledo is one of the most experienced horses in the field, and perhaps the most talented in all three phases. He and Tom have eight CCI5* starts to their partnership, not to mention two World Championships and an Olympic Games. Their winning 2019 cross country round at Pau was as close to magic as I have ever seen in eventing: the horse just looked like it was cantering around for a school at home. They are a true “triple threat,” and if they can finish on their (likely very good) dressage score, I cannot see anyone beating them. And there is something about just having being beaten on American soil in Kentucky—an event that Tom would have won if not for the force of nature that is Tamie Smith—that has probably lit a fire under this rider. We may just see him run away with it.

Best Foreign Entry: Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue (IRL)

This scopey grey will be mid-pack after the dressage, but he is so reliable in the jumping phases that he will make up a lot of ground that the dressage-bred horses tend to lose on cross country day. I first watched this horse at Tokyo, where he was originally named as a reserve. He jumped off the bench for Team Ireland in style, finishing as the best of their bunch, and absolutely jumping the lights out in the two show jumping rounds. Austin is a cross country rider we should all emulate: he’s smooth, fast, and brave, and he and this horse are an incredible team to watch. With seriously good experience under their belts already (including Olympic, World Championship, and previous Badminton experience), I would expect these two to finish on their dressage score. 

Best Debutant (horse or rider): Alexander Bragg and Quindiva (GBR)

When I watched Quindiva on the live stream of Thoresby Park last month, the words that came to mind were “true athlete.” The horse can seriously jump, and hasn’t had a rail in the last three years. Because the show jumping at Badminton can be so influential, she may really shine on the final day. Her jockey, Alex, has quite a bit of five-star experience, so it will be exciting for him to have another horse at this top level. If all goes to plan, she should be in the top 15 or 20 by the end of the competition.

Best Mare: Greenacres Special Cavalier

This ten-year-old Irish Sporthorse mare is exceptional. She is the youngest entry in the field, but with a jockey like Caroline Powell, I would not count her out. I remember watching her show jump at Pau last year and you could have convinced me she was a pure show jumper. She looked as fresh as anything and like the cross-country had taken nothing out of her. On top of that, she has already shown that she can score in the 20s at the five-star level. Badminton takes some jumping, and this horse has jumping talent coming out of her ears. I would expect to see a very good result for this mare this weekend, and even more excitingly, for her to be a great horse for Team New Zealand for several years to come. 

Spoiler Alert: Kitty King and Vendredi Biats (GBR)

Partnered together for nearly a decade, this horse and rider have been knocking on the door for a long time, and for some reason, I think it will all come together for them this weekend. If they were on any other country’s list of pairs in contention for selection, they likely would have been at both the recent Olympics and World Championships, but British selection has been so competitive recently that they have just been left off the squad a few times. That disappointment likely has Kitty hungry and gives her a real point to prove. They came close to a big result at Burghley last year after winning the dressage on a 21 but having a pin on the cross country, but maybe that sort of “almost” result has driven them to be completely ready for the challenge this year. I just love “Froggy’s” expression as he goes around the cross country: he hunts for his fences and looks as honest as they come. If everything goes their way this weekend, I think they could just end up near, or at, the top. 

Tim Price and Coup de Coeur Dudevin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Cassidy Oeltjen

Winner: Rosalind Canter with Lordships Graffalo. I feel like the 2018 World Championships really taught Rosalind how to win – an important skill when you’re riding a horse with as much promise as ‘Walter’. He was second here last year to London 52 at his first 5* and fourth at the Eventing World Championships in Pratoni at the ripe young age of 10. I think 11 just might be his year to come out on top.

Best Foreign Entry: Tim Price with Coup de Coeur Dudevin. I’m not going to be the one to bet against the top ranked FEI rider in the world, even if it’s on a horse that he’s only had the ride on a short time. Tim brings two very talented horses to this year’s Badminton, but I think it’s this young, striking bay that will be up the leaderboard on Sunday. They won the 5* at Maryland last fall, and although it was a small field, the pair proved their worth, finishing on a 28.2, and I thinkthey could finish lower here (as long as he keeps the rails up on Sunday!).

Best Debutant (horse or rider): Caroline Powell with Greenacres Special Cavalier. Besides Coup de Coeur, I think another experienced New Zealander will find themselves going late in the day on Monday with their debutant Badminton horse. This mare might be young, but I always think the best horses have some quirks, and this one was one of the quirkiest as a young horse. But a wise man once told me that 10 is when Irish horses get their brain in the mail, so Badminton might just be the place that Queen Bee gets her chance to show off her smarts.

Best Mare: Rosalind Canter with Pencos Crown Jewel. Rosalind’s two rides are actually half siblings who share another 5* mare in their lineage. Having tenacity in her blood will help Jasmine move up the leaderboard, although they shouldn’t be too far off striking distance on
day one. It may be her first Badminton, but she’s no stranger to big tracks, and with Rosalind as her jockey, she should be in good shape to best the rest of the mares in the field.

 Spoiler Alert: Amanda Pottinger with Just Kidding. I love a longshot, and I love a thoroughbred. And I REALLY love a little (15.2) thoroughbred who loves to fancy-prance. Last year he scored a 25.9 in the first phase here, and if he can match that, he’ll be sitting pretty to storm around the cross country. Show jumping may be his achilles heel, but if the cups are deep and the pole-tapping gods are on his side, I think they could be sitting pretty Sunday afternoon.

Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Abby Powell

Winner: Tom McEwen will be rolling into Badminton fresh off his second-placed finish at Kentucky with JL Dublin. Worried about him being exhausted from riding in back-to-back five-stars? Nah! Tom’s a marathoner in his “spare” time! Not to mention his Olympic silver-medal winning mount, Toledo de Kerser, isn’t exactly a slouch either. After an uncharacteristic fall on course here last year, this pair is in it for both the big win and little redemption while they’re at it.

Best Foreign Entry: It really feels like Tim Price shouldn’t quite count as a foreign entry, given his residence in the UK. But he does very proudly fly the New Zealand flag after all, so I’ll take it! If I can use this category to stick him and his Maryland 5-Star winner Coup de Coeur Dudevin up in the ranks, then do so I shall.

Best Debutant (horse or rider): I’ve got to throw a US pair into the mix here somehow, so I’m picking Katherine Coleman and her five-star first-timer Monbeg Senna for this accolade. 

Best Mare: Ros Canter’s Pencos Crown Jewel will be making her third 5* start here at Badminton, having placed fourth in the pop-up 5* at Bicton in 2021 and then jus outside the top ten at Burghley last year. This mare has a big bright future and I’ll be watching her closely this weekend.

Spoiler Alert: Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs may be EquiRatings favorites to win, but they feel a little more like spoilers to me for whatever reason. Oliver and former winner here, Ballaghmor Class, could also just as easily snatch another win here. Oh, and watch our for Ros Canter and Lordships Graffolo too! Gosh, this is another tough one to call.  

Ros Canter and Pencos Crown Jewel. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sally Spickard

Winner: Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo

I think it’s going to be time for Lordships Graffalo — who at the age of 10 was a narrow second here at Badminton in 2022 — to have his day. With another year of experience under his belt, as well as a fourth place individual finish at the FEI World Championships last fall, we should see this pair ready to smash out a win or two on the international circuit in 2023. In 2022, Ros and Lordships Graffalo finished the Badminton weekend on their dressage mark of 26.0 — if they can achieve this or better this year, we could be looking at our next champion.

Best Foreign Entry: Tim Price and Coup de Couer Dudevin

Our Maryland 5 Star winners in 2022, Tim Price and Coup de Couer Dudevin are ready to tackle another major event. While Badminton might bring a slightly stiffer field, I think this Kiwi pair could be ones to impress or even swoop in for the whole win this weekend. An easy choice for this pick would also be Tim’s Pratoni mount, Vitali — toss a dart at the wall to figure out who the better pick would be. It’s science!

Best Debutant (horse or rider): Georgia Bartlett and Spano de Nazca

Ok, real talk: I’m mostly picking this pair because I am newly OBSESSED with the diminutive-but-mighty Spano de Nazca, who’s absolutely going to be chomping to get this weekend underway. If you haven’t met this pair, don’t miss their rookie profile penned by Diana Gilbertson here. While this pair won’t threaten the leaders on the first phase of competition, they’re a pretty reliable cross country pair who stands poised to make a climb on their first 5* effort.

Best Mare: Pencos Crown Jewel

I’m just on the Ros Canter train this weekend, and I think you might even be able to swap out this lovely mare for her stablemate in the winner pick column. Even better, “Jasmine” is a half-sister to Lordships Graffalo, really keeping it in the family of incredibly talented horses on Ros’ string at the moment. This will be another pair that will need to do some climbing through the jumping phases, but if they can finish on their dressage mark we could see them finish in that top percentile of this very competitive field.

Spoiler Alert: Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser

It feels somewhat silly to put Olympic silver medalists (and team gold medalists) into the spoiler field, but this is EN and we do what we want. Tom is hot off a second place finish at Kentucky with JL Dublin this past weekend and will be eager to get his old friend back out on a big track at Badminton. While they suffered a pretty heavy fall (no injuries) at the tricky solar panels on the 2022 track, that was an anomaly if nothing else as we can typically expect this pair to go quick and clear across the country. If Tom can manage a FOD again this weekend, Toledo could be the one wearing the crown when the dust settles on Sunday.

Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Stream – Badminton TV] [Radio Badminton] [Tickets] [EN’s Coverage]

Once more unto the breach, dear friends: scarcely does one five-star end before the next begins, and with it, my next chance to lose friends and not influence people at all. What fun! What japes! What a great risk of losing my accreditation for next year! In any case, though, I always think it’s important to start these momentous weeks, full as they are of derring-do and extraordinary athletic achievement and emotional highs and lows, with a little bit of lighthearted ribbing. It keeps all our feet on the ground, doesn’t it? It helps us laugh as we teeter on the precipice of the things that frighten us. I am using a lot of words here to try to justify this; to quantify it as a great service to all of humanity and eventing. Have I convinced you yet? I’ve convinced myself, anyway, and that’s good enough for me. Slap a Medal of Honor on me, for I have served the Eventing Nation. And now, it’s time to give out some truly dubious prizes for my favourite looks from this year’s first horse inspection at Badminton.

First up…

The Golden Chinch for Honouring Monarchs or Burgers; Unsure

Lauren Innes and Global Fision M. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Look, I’m going to start with this one, because I know you’ll all be waiting for it. We saw a lot of nods to this week’s coronation of the Man Who Would Be Tampon — err, sorry, King — throughout the course of proceedings today, with patriotic scarves, ribbons, and much, much more besides on show from a number of riders. But none encapsulated the moment quite like Lauren Innes, who simply chucked a crown on her noggin and went sprinting down a strip of tarmac, alongside a horse, in the pissing-down rain. The whole situation, when you actually step back and think about it objectively, is faintly ridiculous, and I love that Lauren just kind of owned that. She reminds me of the good old days when you’d get six nuggets and a cardboard crown for being a Very Good Girl while your mum went shoe shopping. I hope she wears it for all three phases.

The Golden Chinch for War Efforts on the Home Front

Laura Collett and Dacapo. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We’ve got to talk about this silk headscarf, which is a truly land girl accessory. In it, Laura Collett screams “we’re only allowed a fistful of sugar, a spoonful of butter, and two apples per week, but I’ll make you a cake that’ll prompt you to propose to me immediately.” She bellows “oh, your leg’s hanging off? Bite down on this spoon, darling, because I learned to amputate and cauterise a wound at the age of 15 when my family’s reception room was turned into a makeshift hospital, and I’ll have you sorted in no time.” She heartily screams “let me show you my abundance of turnips: I planted them myself in a secret garden I created between two paving stones using some manure I just found somewhere and now we shall never starve again. Don’t mind the sirens! The root vegetables don’t!” If she came at me in a Land Rover with all the doors sawn off, I’d jump in immediately and assume I’d make it through whichever World War she’s singlehandedly battling. For King and Country: Laura Collett. She might be wearing hot pink, but she’ll still sort this place out.

The Golden Chinch for Gucci Collabs that Haven’t Even Happened Yet, But Should

James Rushbrooke and Milchem Eclipse. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s something very ‘I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay’ about this look from James, but actually, it’s more than that: it’s very ‘I’m a lumberjack and I’m about to release the hottest hip-hop album of 2023, and Kendrick Lamar can fight me if he thinks otherwise.’ I want to inspect this man’s mouth immediately because I just KNOW he’s got a stacked diamond grill on those gnashers of his. That look of deep concentration isn’t because he’s trying not to trip while jogging down the strip; it’s because he’s currently thinking up some SICK BARS for verse three of Straight Out of Badders, a song I’ll want to hate because the nickname ‘Badders’ makes me do this awful full-body cringe thing, but actually, I know I’ll secretly love it and shamelessly play it on an endless loop in my house, thus contributing to James’s inevitable skyrocketing trajectory up the charts, which will end abruptly when he’s invited onto Celebs Go Dating and admits that he wasn’t potty trained until he was like, eight, or something. Then he’ll be forced to spend the rest of his career reinventing Straight Out of Badders for adverts for, I don’t know, toothpaste, or anti-diarrhoea medication, or something, until we all agree that it might be nice to let him headline Glastonbury, just once, as a special treat, ironically. Then he’ll become a national hero, like Elton John, or Mr Motivator.

The Golden Chinch Award for Egregious Overcommitment to Y2K Trends, Part One

Izzy Taylor and Happy Days. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Right, Izzy, let’s have a chat: you’re definitely at least the same age as me, which means we lived through this horror already. You know what I mean, girl: the year 2004. The year boho inflicted itself on us all because Sienna Miller or Mischa Barton or someone willowy and blonde wore something that Seventeen magazine quite liked, and then it was inescapable. It was all crochet knits and peasant tops and, horror of horror, wide circle belts that served absolutely no purpose whatsoever. They just dangled there! On our hips! Holding up nothing! Making us look like we’d just stepped out of a casting call for extras in Gladiator! What were we thinking!!!

Fortunately, Izzy had a change of heart halfway up the strip and got rid of the belt, because in this, the year of our lord 2023, we like our accessories to actually do something for us.

The Golden Chinch Award for Egregious Overcommitment to Y2K Trends, Part Two

Alice Casburn and Topspin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I’m almost willing to give Alice Casburn a bit of leeway here, because at 22, she’s a card-carrying member of Gen Z, which means she didn’t have to suffer through the indignities of early noughties fashion, because when we were all being told by tabloids that having a full set of internal organs actually makes you a shameful heifer of a human being, she was being born. Yeah, take that one in. It makes me have a funny turn, too.

Anyway, as a Gen Z-er, she won’t be immune to the cyclical nature of trends, and I might be approximately 200 years old, but I do know that those teens and their TikToking are trying to bring all this suffering back into the spotlight. While I dig (do young people still say dig? Help) the flares here, I’m horrified to realise that it’s even possible to buy low-rise jeans again, because I’ve wasted so many of my young and hot years trying to wrestle my bum crack back into submission in those monstrosities that I simply do not have the energy to fight anymore. What I will say is this: Alice, if you want to do Y2K fashion, you have to do all of it. You have to really live it. I want to see you on Monday morning at the final horse inspection with a zig-zag parting in your hair. I want to see at least three butterfly clips on either side of that parting. I want you to locate some blue eyeshadow and some frosted lip gloss. I want Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse smeared along your jawline. I want those flares to have disintegrated at the back bottom seam from being stepped on so many times so that you’re walking around with a sad, wet, muddy tail dragging along behind your ankles. I want you to borrow Izzy’s belt. Don’t let me down, Casburn.

The Golden Chinch for Making My Camera Sensor Go Funny, Again

Harry Meade and Away Cruising. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ahh, Harry, we meet again. You are Cordings of Piccadilly’s most loyal customer, and the only man for whom I need to change the exposure settings on my camera, not because of your sparkling grey horse (although well done to groom Jess Errington there, because Away Cruising looks great), but because your trousers are so much. At one point a neon yellow ambulance trundled past the trot-up and I thought I was getting a sneak preview of your Sunday look. You are a mad man and you cannot be tamed and I have to respect you for that, begrudgingly.

The Golden Chinch for Nailing the Dating App Brief

Felix Vogg and Cartania. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

So often, when you’re scrolling through, say, Hinge or Bumble (this isn’t something happens on Tinder, which is an unapologetic shag-fest, frankly) you’ll come across people who are basically just there because they desperately need to find a plus-one for a wedding they’ve been invited to. I don’t blame them, actually: surely nothing is worse than being the Token Single at a wedding and thus finding yourself tactically seated next to the Other Token Single (usually a godawful third cousin with curiously alt-right leanings), who’ll spend the whole evening talking at you before eventually doing that hot-breath-exhale-and-lean-in move that a certain type of man is so adept at. This one, you know:

 

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Here, though, Switzerland’s Felix Vogg presents himself as the answer to all your troubles. He responds to your Hinge prompt sympathising with your plight (“weddings! The worst! Is there an open bar? Count me in!”) and although it’s highly odd that you have to summon him by saying “Hinge plus one” three times into the mirror, when he appears in his natty little three-piece suit and bow-tie with that smirk on his face, you’re like, “holy shit, I think this is actually going to be great.” And at first, it is: you turn up to the wedding with a veritable snack on your arm, and that one girl you’ve maintained some public semblance of friendship with since college even though she’s actually horrible is so vexed by it all that she walks around looking like someone’s just deposited a gentle fart on her upper lip for the next four hours. But then you lose track of your date for a while, decide to grab your coat so you can slip outside for an illicit smoke… and find him in the cloakroom, attempting to consummate anyone’s wedding, really, with the mother of the bride. You vow to start trying to meet men at normal places, like… garden centres. Or bake sales. Or soup kitchens. Then you decide to maybe just not meet men at all. That’s also fine.

The Golden Chinch for Maybe Packing a Ouija Board in her Tack Trunk; Who Knows

Emily King and Valmy Biats. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I was a baby goth. From about the age of eleven, which was just after the moment when I got over my long-held idea that I might be Kurt Cobain reincarnated (a notion that was finally quashed when I ran out of compelling arguments against the fact that I was two years old when he died), I embraced the dark side wholeheartedly. I shopped in Hot Topic, recreationally pierced various bits of my own face with hot safety pins, listened to screamy punk about, like, disembowelment and heartbreak and the intersection of those two topics. (Actually, I still listen to all that, and I’m quite happy to make recommendations. Hit me up.) If you need further evidence, here’s me at 12, just before I discovered hairdye and eyeliner, but well after I figured out that if you put a medieval font on a random string of words, it won’t matter that they don’t actually form a legible sentence, because it’ll just look really really cool:

I am the princess of darkness, and if you ask me real nice, I might let you borrow this outfit for the next trot-up.

Anyway, all this is to say that I spend my life playing one long game of Is It Goth? And in truth, all I want is for everything to pass that spooky barometer. I want you all to come to the side of bats and black lipstick and New Wave vibes with me. I want us all to look a little bit like Robert Smith (not the showjumper) on his wedding day, which is what I kind of accidentally look like most days so I really do need that look to be cool again. Black horse? Arguably Kinda Goth. Black leather-look waterproof breeches? Maybe a Little Bit Goth. Holland Cooper coats and Fairfax and Favor boots? Not Goth At All. Emily King in a Wednesday Adams dolly dress with a black low-denier tight and a boxy blazer? Very, Very Goth. Welcome to the dark side, Emily. Here’s a song about disembowelment and heartbreak to make you feel like one of us.

The Golden Chinch for Understanding that Masculinity Spans the Colour Spectrum

This! Was simply! A Lot! But you know what? I applaud a man who has the courage to mix his pinks. Whatever that means.

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