Photo via ESJ
It’s that time of year again Eventing Nation!
[Accepted Entries PDF, Waiting List PDF, Badminton Website]
The USA has two accepted pairs — Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz and Kristin Schmolze with Cavaldi. EN blogger Olivia Loiacono is on the waitlist with Subway. Olivia’s new coach, William Fox-Pitt leads a field of 40 accepted British riders with 5 rides of his own. No Canadians are on either the accepted list or the wait list as the Canucks will be looking to Rolex and three-stars closer to home for their Olympic spring preparations. The dearth of North American entries at Badminton means one thing–Rolex is going to be absolutely stacked with the best field from North America in a long time.
As we know, Peter Atkins and Henny are headed to Badminton along with 9 other Australian pairs. The great Mark Todd looks to repeat his 2011 victory and his hopes rest on the shoulders of Grass Valley and Major Milestone (who finished last year in 35th). Last year’s Badminton silver medalists, Piggy French and Jakata find themselves on the entry list looking to improve one placing.
Update: Pippa Roome has written a great recap of the entries for Horse and Hound. A few notable points from the article:
–7 previous Badminton winning riders are entered: Andrew Hoy, Paul Tapner, William Fox-Pitt, Pippa Funnell, Mary King, Oliver Townend and Mark Todd
–Michael Jung will be making his first Badinton appearance
–Badminton received 141 entries this year, 134 in 2011, 151 entries in 2010, 130 in 2009 and 153 in 2008.
[Read much more from H&H]
The accepted pairs were chosen based on FEI points:
Peter Atkins Henry Jota Hampton AUS
Christopher Burton Holstein Park Leilani AUS
Clayton Fredericks Dunge’s Laurent Ros
