Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob. FEI/Jon Stroud Photo.
Today’s a crucial date in the Badminton diary: 2.00 p.m. BST saw the cut-off of the entry list, after which point no more combinations can be accepted from the waitlist.
The last week has seen a spate of withdrawals, including Gemma Tattersall‘s second ride, Pamero 4, Selena O’Hanlon‘s Foxwood High, and Caroline Powell‘s On the Brash. Shortly after the cut-off point today, another was announced: hot favourites Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob OLD will not be heading to Gloucestershire for another crack at the title.
“I have really been looking forward to [Badminton Horse Trials], the five-star classic, in England,” said Ingrid in a statement on Instagram. “Unfortunately in the last few days SAP Hale Bob OLD has not been himself, just not as energetic and fit as I am used to with him. In order to avoid any potential risk for Bobby I have made the disappointing decision to stay home with year. I wish everyone a fabulous 2019 Badminton!”
This year’s waitlist was comprised of 24 horse and rider combinations, of which 14 have been accepted and a further three opted to withdraw. This brings the final list to 89 horse and rider combinations, although three of these are multiple rides over the two-horse limit, and are yet to be withdrawn. One of the accepted combinations is our third pair to compete for the USA next week. We caught up with Woodge Fulton from her new base at Dirk Schrade’s stables in Germany to find out how she’s feeling ahead of her Badminton debut.
Woodge Fulton and Captain Jack at Kentucky. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
“Getting off the list is a tough thing to hope for, because me getting in means someone else didn’t get to go – but I was trying to be totally prepared for either situation,” she says. “I’m very lucky that I’m close by in Germany; I would have been a serious nervous wreck if I had to make the decision to fly from home or not. But now I’m relieved and excited – time for the actual hard part to start!”
Woodge will ride her 16-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding Captain Jack. So far, the pair have jumped clear across the country in all three of their five-star runs – they completed Kentucky in 2017 and 2018, and the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in 2017.
You can read all about every horse and rider pair on the entry list on our updated Badminton form guide. All of us at team EN wish Bobby – and his fellow withdrawn entries – a quick return to form, and a safe, enormously fun week to Woodge and the rest of the Badminton field!
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