Classic Eventing Nation

As is tradition, it’s time for our writers at EN to make their picks for the MARS Badminton Horse Trials. Do we know what we’re talking about? Most likely not, but it’s a fun game to play when the week is still young. Who would you pick for each category? Keep reading to see our selections!

NOTHING TO SEE HERE! Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tilly Berendt

WINNER: 

Oh god, look, whoever I name in this inevitably ends up not winning so let’s skip to the next one and not talk about someone whose name sounds like Schmavid Schmoel at all, shall we? Thanks for understanding.

TOP FOREIGN ENTRY: 

For the purposes of this piece, I’m going to consider just entries that aren’t based in the UK as ‘foreign’, mostly because otherwise I’d have way too many difficult decisions to make, and I’m all about an easy life. So, with that key fact about me in mind, you’ll have to take it on the chin that I’m also going to give you two horses here. Rules were made to be broken and all that! I think – I hope – this’ll be a great week for Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg, who overcame a bit of a period of turbulence to finish ninth at Burghley last year. I also think Switzerland’s Felix Vogg and Cartania could do really well; this is a cool, gritty mare who finished fifteenth here last year in incredibly tough conditions. With slightly better ones this year, I’d love to see her crack the top ten.

TOP DEBUTANTE HORSE OR RIDER:

I really like the look of Feloupe, the debutant partner of Irish representative Georgie Goss. She’s a lovely type on the flat, even if her very-low-30s scores don’t tend to reflect what she’s capable of, but if she can throw down a personal best here this week — and you’d be surprised how many horses do their PB here in this buzzy atmosphere – then I reckon she’ll make herself known as a real one to watch. I’m looking forward to seeing her navigate this step up, and while I don’t necessarily think they’ll trouble the leaders this week, I do think they’ll impress and lay a very good foundation for competitive bids at future five-stars.

William Fox-Pitt and Grafennacht. Photo by Sally Spickard.

TOP MARE:

You know what would be cool as hell in an anniversary year for Badminton? A win for someone who is stitched right into the fabric of the sport – someone like, perhaps, William Fox-Pitt, whose game Grafennacht looks green but up to the task. She was second at Maryland last year and fourteenth here, and she only landed that far down the leaderboard because of her uncharacteristic three rails on Sunday – a symptom of the kind of weariness that conditions like that lend on a final day. This year, she’s stronger and more mature, and at twelve, is coming into her prime, and I think we’ll see the very best of her, which would be so fitting for this big occasion. There have been murmurings that this might be William’s last Badminton; if that’s the case, I’d like to see him go out on the highest of highs. Maybe that feeling will even convince him to stick around for a while longer.

SPOILER ALERT:

This is the year that Emily King‘s Badminton demons are well and truly banished. She’s on great form with Valmy Biats, and she’s due some good karma after showing excellent horsemanship last year and pulling up a fit and competitive horse before he looked even remotely weary. I hope the universe gives her the week she deserves.

Tom Crisp and Liberty and Glory: the people’s heroes. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

HEART HORSE: 

For me, it’s always Tom Crisp‘s feisty little homebred Liberty and Glory, who I adore partly because I adore the Crisp family, a crew of great people with a real get-stuck-in sort of attitude, and partly because I love her, for all her opinions and quirks and that extraordinary jumping ability. I bore everyone to tears in the mixed zone at every five-star reliving how livid she was the one time I rode her, and how desperately she wanted to put me on the floor from the very second I put my foot in the stirrup, and if you’re really lucky, I’ll bore you, too, with a terrible arena mirror selfie from that day. Maybe. Anyway, after last year’s incredible round up until that unfortunate premature finish, in which Tom showed what a truly good sport he is, I suspect I won’t be alone in having this one as my heart horse for whom I wish only the very best of things.

Cheg Darlington

Could this be the most beautiful horse in the world? Francis Whittington and DHI Purple Rain. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

WINNER:

I’m listening to my heart and my head in equal measure (and ignoring EquiRatings’ favorite for the win) and saying that David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed will be incredibly popular Badminton winners. I’ve followed this horse since he was one of the cheapest in Eventing Manager (due to not having much in the way of stats, not because he wasn’t good) and no one knew how to pronounce his name. This guy is a finish on his dressage specialist, a feat he achieved at each of his five international runs last season – including at Kentucky and Burghley, where he was runner-up. Will he be leading after the dressage? No. But there’s a very high probability that he won’t add a scrap to his low-30s first phase score across the rest of the competition. He’s proved he can be quick and clear over the toughest tracks in the world, and that he can come out on the final day showing absolutely zero sign that he’s galloped for 11 and a half minutes, navigating complex and enormous fences the day before. What a treat it must be to be sat on a horse like that. David says he wasn’t at all sure about ‘Galileo’ when he first got him, but boy oh boy he must be delighted to have been so wrong. This is a combination I would love to see take the trophy here, and an elusive spot on the very exclusive Team GB Olympic team.

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

TOP FOREIGN ENTRY:

I’ve got a couple of Kiwis for this one (obviously eventer extraordinaire Tim Price and record-breaker Vitali are on everyone’s radar) but, keeping to form, I’m going to continue to buck the trend and plump for Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier. This lady has 16 Badminton completions on her card and three Armada Dishes on her shelf. Some of my favorite eventing memories are of Caroline and the late, great Lenamore showing the world what this sport’s all about as they galloped and jumped and made it all look like so much fun. ‘Cav’ has proven she can go sub-30 in the first phase at 5*, putting down a 27.4 here last year and a 29 at Maryland last fall, where she finished 6th. She’s proven she can jump ‘round a 5* cross country track clear, which she did on her debut at the level at Pau in 2022 to finish 5th. She won’t be the fastest on Saturday, but she’ll be very far from the slowest. She’s amongst the most reliable show jumpers in the field and Caroline is tied with Tom McEwen for most clears on the final day at Badminton of those who are competing this week. All this form is talking to me and saying they’re in for a great week.

TOP DEBUTANTE HORSE OR RIDER:

I’m going with a rookie pair for this one, Ireland’s Lucy Latta and RCA Patron Saint. This is a combination that’s likely not to be on the radar of anyone but the most tenacious of eventing followers – Lucy’s a one-horse rider who, up until last year, competed almost solely in Ireland. They made themselves known when they finished 4th in the 4*-L at Blair Castle at the end of last season, jumping clear around the famously meaty track, which will stand them in very good stead as they set off from the Badminton start box. This whole top-level eventing lark is in her blood, with her grandad competing at both the British 5* offerings and her cousin completing Badminton four times. And as for speed, bravery, fortitude and grit, well that’s in her genes too – English Grand National winner Robert Powell is another of her cousins. There’s something to be said for the relationship she must have with RCA Patron Saint, being the only horse she competes. We all know this sport is just as much about partnership as it is about any of the other facets, and Lucy’s brought this gelding up through the levels over the last six years. That’s got to give her confidence as they face their biggest challenge to date.

TOP MARE:

Well, there are quite a few very nice mares in the field this year: some up-and-comers I’m sure will be making their mark in the not too distant future, some super speedy ladies who are obviously channeling their inner Classic Moet, and plenty of quality. I’m going with one who came out at the top level last season, immediately proved her mettle amongst the big guns and stamped her place on the podium – Harry Meade’s Cavalier Crystal. She made her 5* debut at Burghley in the fall, and added just 5.2 cross country time penalties to her dressage score to finish 3rd. If that’s not a mare squealing that she’s arrived, I don’t know what is. She’s completed in all of her 21 FEI starts and has had cross country jumping penalties just once, way back in 2017. Add to that the fact she didn’t have a single show jumping pole between 2021 and 2024, and you’ll find yourself with one of the most reliable jumpers in the field, both out on course and in the ring. Her rider’s not too shabby either. The youngest person ever to receive an Armada Dish in 2009, he now has another on his shelf, with twelve Badminton completions and six top-20 finishes on his card. He’s also World No. 5.

Luc Chateau and Viens du Mont. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

SPOILER ALERT:

I’m going back to looking outside the box and putting my X on Luc Chateau’s Viens Du Mont to deliver a spoiler performance at Badminton this year. Will he be in contention after the first phase? Almost certainly not. We can expect a high-30s dressage score, maybe even a hoof (or two) in the 40s. But boy is he a cross country machine. He’s super quick with far more inside the times on his record than penalties, and has been clear in each of his 21 FEI runs bar one – Burghley last season, which was surely a blip. He proved he’s good to go in any ground conditions when he took 11th place at the wet ‘n’ wild edition of Badminton last year and he very nearly finished on his dressage on his 5* debut at Pau in 2022, but for a pesky show jumping pole; he ended up top-10. Dressage winner? No. Leaderboard climber? Hell yeah.

HEART HORSE:

Without a second thought my pick here is for sure Francis Whittington’s DHI Purple Rain. Not only do I think that this is the most beautiful horse in the world, with the best barn name, but everything about this extravagant gelding says, my name is ‘Prince’ and ‘baby, I’m a star’! This guy was ridiculously impressive in the tough going out on last year’s cross country course, eating up the ground and looking to love every single second of it. You’d have been forgiven for thinking that his flamboyant action would have taken its toll, but nope, not at all. He rose to the challenge and for me, was the one to watch of the day. He is delightfully (for the viewer, not so much for Francis, who does a masterful job with this difficult gelding) unpredictable in the dressage, where he can get hot, hot, hot. But when his mind’s in the game he can deliver the goods, and he’s just oozing with potential, that’s plain to see. Let’s hope it’s more ‘let’s work’ than ‘let’s go crazy’ when he canters up the center line. Watch out for him in the First Horse Inspection for the horse that’s most likely to send the judges and photographers scuttling. He sure is a sight to behold regardless of how he’s behaving – I’m a total sucker for a shiny black horse – so I’ll end this on an appropriate note and say, ‘U got the look’, Prince – ‘nothing compares 2 u’.

Diana Gilbertson

Tim Price and Vitali . Photo by Tilly Berendt.

WINNER:

Well, I was kind of putting all of my eggs into the Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class basket, but obviously that won’t be a thing now. Sooooo instead, I’m going to go with who I desperately WANT to win, and who I know CAN win, if he just keeps his bloody feet up on the final day. Yeah, you guessed it, I’m going for Mr Tim Price and Viatli. Dressage: great (see Burghley 2023 for confirmation – smashed that record), cross country: equally impressive (romped home through the quagmire here last year to move up 7 places overnight), showjumping: naaaaat so good. He CAN jump clear – and has done every time out this season, as well as a fair few times last – but he also has a frustrating habit of knocking three rails, and has done in every one of his 5* starts so far…and at the Tokyo Olympics. But if anyone can fix that slight issue, it’s Tim Price. If the winter trip to Spain for the Sunshine Tour pays off, and Vitali really is cured this time, then my wishes will definitely come true, because if it wasn’t for that slight flaw, this horse would have been a multiple 5* winner by now. So, please, I beseech you, keep all available limbs crossed for this guy on Sunday. Lord knows they both deserve the win.

Caroline Powell and Greenacres Special Cavalier. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

TOP FOREIGN ENTRY:

I mean, Tim Price is from New Zealand so I have kind of already answered this one, but I feel like that’s a bit of a cop out, so I am going to plump for another Kiwi (they’re my fave), and say Double Olympian and all round legend, Caroline Powell with Greenacres Special Cavalier. This will be the second start for ‘Cav,’ who I also held high hopes for after her sparkling 5* debut at Pau in 2022, where she finished 5th. Sadly, the diabolical conditions meant that she, along with so many others, had a less than ideal cross country round. Although they crossed the finish line, they did so with 40 jumping penalties, and so ended up in 16th place, which is still not too shabby for your first Badminton. They returned to top form in October though, finishing up in 6th place in Maryland. Thus, my faith has been restored, and I reckon these two could finish comfortably within the top 10.

Cosby Green and Copper Beach. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

TOP DEBUTANTE HORSE OR RIDER:
There are SO MANY to choose from here – personal faves include Lucy Latta from Ireland, Holly Richardson, who made her 5* debut in fine style last summer with the lionhearted Bally Louis and Helen Bates and Carpe Diem who also their 5* debut last year, at Pau. BUT I think, on this occasion, it is Cosby Green and Copper Beach who deserve the shout out. Back for another year with Team Price, this US superstar smashed it at her first 5* in Pau, finishing in 16th place with Buck Davidson’s former ride Copper Beach, and now they’re lining up at their first Badminton. Cosby has been hard at work with her Kiwi mentors during the ‘off season,’ joining them on the Spanish Show Jumping Tour, and no doubt we will see the fruits of her labours this week. Flying the flag for Team USA, I have every faith that Cosby and ‘Sean’ will land another top 20 result at their first Badminton – seriously, this girl is ONE. TO. WATCH.

William Fox-Pitt and Grafennacht. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

TOP MARE:

Again, I am torn – this time between Cavalier Crystal, who Harry Meade piloted to 3rd place at Burghley last year, and Graffenacht, runner up in Maryland. The latter is the one who takes my vote here, I think, purely because she managed to make it home safely here last year, despite the never-ending mud. Yes, she dropped 3 rails on the final day, but my guess is she was nothing short of EXHAUSTED and did not bring her A game. Hopefully, she will not have to contend with such horrendous conditions this year, and she and William Fox-Pitt will earn themselves yet another 5* podium place. Oh, I do hope so!

SPOILER ALERT:
….Continuing where I left off in the previous category, my spoiler alert is that William Fox-Pitt is this year’s Badminton winner. That would make a third Badminton title, and a fifteenth 5* win for this living legend, extending his record of the most 5* wins. Oh pleeeeasssse let this happen – I am manifesting to the MAX for this. Please, do join me.

Helen Bates and Carpe Diem. Photo by Laura Dupuy

HEART HORSE:

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Carpe Diem, or Demon as Helen Bates calls him. They made their 5* debut at Pau last year, and in fine style, too, with a double clear, but this guy and his rider captured my heart lonnnng before then. His little face when he clears those jumps with miiiiiles to spare, oh it’s just the best. This is a horse who just loves his job, and I can’t wait to see this utter dream team tackle their first Badminton together. He also happens to be one of the top 10 showjumpers in the field (thank EquiRatings for that little nugget) so I’m quietly hopeful for another great finish for these two. Also, fun fact:he’s missing a tooth, so his OTHER stable name is Diego, after the Saber-toothed Tiger from Ice Age. I said it was a fun fact, not a useful one…

Sally Spickard

Meghan O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent. Photo by Sally Spickard.

WINNER:

I’m tossing my hat in this week for Ros Canter and Izilot DHI, who finished on a sub-30 in their 5* debut at Pau last fall. The one chink in the armor, so to speak, and if there even is one, really, is that “Isaac” can be on the sharper, spookier side. Indeed, this has been the pair’s undoing in the past, and Badminton is certainly its own beast in terms of atmosphere. This could see Ros start on a slightly higher score than the 11-year-old gelding might otherwise be capable of, but I worry less about the starting score at an event like Badminton. The real chops will be tested on Eric Winter’s grueling cross country and also in the show jumping on grass come Sunday. But Izilot DHI has performed in intense environments before, and he’s got the competitive results to back up his potential as a Badminton winner. Ros hoisted the Badminton trophy in 2023 after piloting Lordships Graffalo to a win on a score of 35.3, and the next nearest finisher was on a score of over 50 penalty points. While the going this year is sure to be much better, and perhaps we’ll see fewer time penalties on Saturday than we did in 2023, if Ros and Isaac can manage a 30 or better to start the weekend, they’ll be in a good position to make good on their jumping prowess, which also features an extensive clear FEI show jumping record at the 4* and 5* levels.

TOP FOREIGN ENTRY:

I’ve been a big fan of SAP Talisman, the entry of EquiRatings’ co-founder and top championship rider Sam Watson for Ireland, ever since we saw him really step up to the occasion at the 2021 FEI European Championships in Switzerland. What. A. Horse. Now, show jumping would be this horse’s “weakness” on paper — he did lower a handful that week at Avenches as well as a few at Burghley, his first 5*, last year. But if you want to indulge my obsession, just watch this pair on cross country Saturday. This is a horse that’s just made to do the task at the biggest events in the world, and while you could argue that those efforts make it difficult for him to clean up on Sundays, if we know Sam at all we know he will have been making the necessary tweaks to his training to put down his best possible result this weekend.

TOP DEBUTANTE HORSE OR RIDER:

I’m hopping aboard the Lucy Latta train here as I’ve found her story to be quite relateable — she’s just got the one horse competing, which presents its own form of challenges in terms of mileage and experience, and she spends her days working in brand management, which is also respectable in that it precludes a rider from spending all hours possible in the tack. It’s a testament that a special horse, proper time management, and dedication can earn your ticket to the big show, and what a story it would be if Lucy and RCA Patron Saint or “Paddy” can show the world what’s possible this weekend. Besides, anyone that picks Badminton as their 5* debut (I mean let’s be honest: I’m not sure WHICH 5* I would pick in her shoes, and I’m frankly glad it’s a decision I don’t have to make) deserves respect in my book.

TOP MARE:

Grafennacht certainly has my heart this week, and it’s a bonus that she happens to be in the experienced hands of none other than William Fox-Pitt. William used Badminton last year as a finding excursion, collecting a decent amount of time and a handful of rails in a massive effort, then followed that up with a podium finish at the Maryland 5 Star in the fall. “Lillie” will be approaching this third 5* with much experience and strength gained in the intervening months. She’s had a sensible run-up to Badminton, romping around some Advanced and Intermediate tracks to tick all the boxes and put the finishing touches on. We can expect to see a fit mare and a competitive rider looking to one-up that second place at Maryland, and they well could do it I believe.

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

SPOILER ALERT:

Tom Jackson and Capels Hollow Drift could easily have slid into my pick for winner here, as I feel they’ve been knocking on the door of a major result for a couple years now. This pair finished fifth at Badminton last year in horrendous conditions, finishing otherwise on their dressage mark after some time (which was basically a given last year) on cross country. And don’t forget they were also runners-up at Burghley the year prior. We wrote in our Form Guide that this pair is a big unsung and under the radar, which can often be preferable to generating a ton of buzz and attention that can get distracting. But you heard it here first: a podium or even a win is far from a long shot here this weekend.

HEART HORSE:

Got to root a bit for the home crowd and while I would happily put in any of the North Americans here, I’m going to give my “heart horse” nod to Palm Crescent and Meghan O’Donoghue. “Palmer” has become a seasoned 5* horse under Meghan’s tutelage, and it’s a similar story to Lucy Latta in that Meghan doesn’t have a huge string of horses to pilot (through no fault of her own, let’s get this woman some more horses, stat!), meaning much of her time is spent competing Palm Crescent and honing his fitness and care to its absolute peak. Meghan’s been quite emotional, understandably so, about ticking off a major lifetime goal for herself with this first start at Badminton — she did compete at Burghley with her famous former OTTB partner, Pirate, but Badminton has eluded her to this point. So here’s to the classic Thoroughbred, which we also see in Jessica Phoenix’s Wabbit as another North American example, and the absolute athleticism they will display come Saturday. Of course, one shouldn’t count out this pair as potential leaderboard climbers for a competitive finish this weekend. If they can finish close to or on what should be a low or mid-30s dressage mark, it won’t be out of question for them to be in the victory gallop come Sunday.

EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse — thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

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2022 winner Laura Collett and debutant ride Hester. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

What a contrast this year’s edition of the MARS Badminton Horse Trials already makes to last year: instead of swimming our way through a swamp to get to and from any of the key points on site, we’re being dazzled by a sea of milky white wintry horse-person legs as we skim over just a teeny bit of mud. A treat! A delight! A holiday! It might not be quite the tropical temperatures of Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, but we’ll take it. And more of it! We’re all happy to gently marinate in our own sweat in the mixed zone all week long.

The sun might be the most obvious shiny new thing at Badminton this year, but it’s not alone in bringing positive change to the place. MARS Equestrian now steps into the title sponsor role, taking the helm from long-standing title sponsors Mitsubishi Motors, who stepped down in 2019 as the company opted to leave the UK market. The welcome appointment of MARS brings with it an increase in prize money – up to £425,000, the biggest purse in eventing – and, more intangibly, a palpable feeling of security and optimism as the event navigates the changing tides of eventing. It is, of course, a birthday for Badminton, too: this year, Britain’s first resident three-day event turns 75. We’d love to know what brand of eye cream it uses, because it doesn’t look a day over thirty.

Boyd Martin, Tsetserleg, and one heck of a tie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This year’s birthday edition of Badminton got off to a bright and busy start this afternoon with an extremely well-attended first horse inspection in front of the estate’s house, which is still, we hear, recovering from the presence of Guy Ritchie, who recently filmed Netflix series The Gentlemen there and got in the habit of stubbing out his fag-ends in 18th-century ornamental vases. Allegedly.

President of the ground jury Sandy Phillips oversaw proceedings with her partners-in-crime-and-dressage-judging, Jane Hamlin (USA) and Christian Steiner (AUT). They ultimately saw 70 horses presented to them, down from an intended 71 – partway through the inspection, it was announced that Tom McEwen had withdrawn CHF Cooliser and would not present.

Bill Levitt and Huberthus AC. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Just one horse was sent to the holding box during the course of proceedings: that was British-based Aussie Bill Levett‘s Huberthus AC, who makes his third five-star start after a retirement on course here in last year’s tough conditions and an elimination for accumulated refusals at Luhmühlen a couple of months later. Fortunately, Bill will get the chance to show how much the gelding has learned from the experience – upon representation, he was accepted into the competition.

Hold on tight! Pippa Funnell coaxes an excitable MCS Maverick back to earth. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Elsewhere, the drama was minimal, and came instead in the form of high-energy extracurricular dance moves from a small number of the very fit horses in this field – chief among them, Pippa Funnell‘s Bramham CCI4*-L winner MCS Maverick, who displayed an extraordinary degree of athleticism and balance while balancing on one hind tippy-toe and then gracefully lowering himself back to terra firma.

A pink-trousered Harry Meade and Cavalier Crystal. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

As always, we also saw the awarding of prizes for the best-dressed lady and gent at the first horse inspection, judged and delivered by equestrian jewellers Hi Ho Silver. These prizes were given to Great Britain’s Harry Meade, who is the first rider since Lorna Clarke in 1970 (insofar as anyone can find, anyway!) to ride three horses in the same year at the event, thanks to a loosening of the rules this year. He’ll pilot stalwart Away Cruising, Burghley podium-finisher Cavalier Crystal, and five-star sophomore Red Kite this week, and while we don’t envy him all the extra effort, we’d be willing to be his FitBit stats will be enormously enviable, so there’s that.

Roșie Bradley-Hole and Romantic. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The best-dressed woman was deemed to be Rosie Bradley-Hole, who makes a poignant return to Badminton with debutant Romantic, stepping into the big shoes left by her late True Blue Too II, with whom she competed here in 2022.

Gaspard Maksud, a man who looks very serious considering he’s in a frog beret, and Kan-Do 2. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Our own best-dressed, though? There’s no looking any further than British-based Frenchman Gaspard Maksud, who debuted the latest in his apparently endless collection of ridiculous hats: a frog beret, because, y’know, he’s a… ‘frog’. This does raise some concerning ideas about what British riders might consider wearing in Pau to live up to their moniker there of ‘les rosbifs’.

Dressage will commence tomorrow at 9.00 a.m. BST (4.00 a.m. EST) with Tom Jackson and Farndon as our first official pair in the ring, following on from the guinea pig test ride at 8.40, and will close out at around 16.30 BST/11.30 a.m. EST. Dressage times can be viewed in full here. Several of our North American pairs will be among this first day of competitors, and you can catch them at the following times:

• Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg – 9.40 a.m. BST/4.40 a.m. EST
• Meghan O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent – 12.04 p.m. BST/7.04 a.m. EST
• Jessica Phoenix and Wabbit (CAN) – 14.39 BST/9.39 a.m. EST
• Tiana Coudray and Cancaras Girl – 15.36 BST/10.36 a.m. EST
• Cosby Green and Copper Beach – 16.00 BST/11.00 a.m. EST

We’ll be bringing you two jam-packed dressage reports tomorrow, but that’s certainly not all from us – keep it locked on EN for plenty more from Badminton to whet your whistle until then, and in the meantime, head to our Ultimate Guide for all the need-to-knows, including the week’s schedule, viewing options, and links to all our coverage, including our packed form guide, our girthy course preview, and much, much more. Go Eventing!

EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse — thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

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Bubby Upton and Cola at Huntsman’s Close. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

Badminton week is upon us, and once again, course designer Eric Winter is at the helm of this week’s primary challenge — cross-country day at the world’s most prestigious CCI5*. We joined Eric for a cruise around the course to get a sense of what might unfold on Saturday as we build towards crowning our 2024 MARS Badminton champion.

As usual, we’re swapping directions this year – so we’re back to having the historically influential Huntsman’s complex early on, as it was in 2022 when Laura Collett and London 52 were victorious.

There’s a few more throwbacks to that year in the mix, too: we’ve got the return of the two Vicarage Vee questions, with the introductory Vee, the Rolex Grand Slam Rails, coming at Fence 22/23 and the ‘real deal’ at 24/25. Both are numbered as two fences to take into account the alternative routes, which both involve jumping a ditch and then a rail, rather than the all-in-one direct approach.

We never envy anyone having to jump this iconic rider frightener, but doing it twice? Surely the stuff of nightmares, right? Well, actually, perhaps not: “I really do think that having the first question makes the Vicarage Vee itself easier,” says Eric, “because it really sets them up for it.”

Also back in the mix, and last seen two years ago, is the Broken Bridge at 13 that was newly introduced in 2022 and gave us some of the most circulated images of that event. It’s an incredible looking fence, but in practice, actually a fairly straightforward question – it’s all about establishing a punchy, positive gallop and following it through into a leap of faith into space.

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

Though both last season and this season have been marked by their relentless dampness, Eric says that the preparation for each renewal of the event has looked quite different.

“Last year, actually, was funny, because we had a drought in February – it was bone-dry that month,” he says. “It was probably as dry in February as it was at any other point in the year. So for us with the prep, we were way ahead because that month, we were able to get a load of stuff done. Whereas this year, it’s been dribbling on, wet, wet, wet, and so it’s been more difficult.”

That means that some fences, such as fence two, the Haywain, have been held back until a week before the competition, when they were finally put into place ready for the competition.

The other major change this year has been a reconfiguration of the end of the course.

“We’re coming back across the arena and through the side of the collecting ring, not from the bottom, because when it was as wet as it was I thought it wasn’t going to be an attractive sight to pull them up that hill at the end of the course. So we changed that a little bit. It’s always a balance between thinking you don’t want to [take too much out], because you don’t want to dumb the sport down too much and finish up nowhere, but you also need to balance what is acceptable.”

The 2024 course, as seen from overhead.

Walking the Course

This year, we’ll start in the main arena as normal, popping a bright, flower-covered box fence and being sent off into the course proper by the cheers of the crowds. Then, there’s two more single fences – the old standby Badminton Haywain at 2, and a big brush fence on a mound at 3, to encourage horses into the air and help competitors settle into a rhythm before the first combination.

Fence 3.

This way around, the Horsequest Quarry at 4AB and 5 is the first significant combination – though unusually, it’s the Quarry without making use of the two feature stone walls, which simply act as a decorative perimeter. The combination itself is, instead, made up of two wide feeders on a curving right-handed line at 4AB and a skinny feeder atop the bank at 5, which makes use of the Quarry’s feature terrain.

“I’ve used the walls four out of the seven years I’ve been building here, and there has to be some time when you say, ‘we’re going to do something else!’. I wanted to do something else last year but then Mike Etherington-Smith said, ‘I’d go back to the walls’, so I said, ‘alright’. This way will mean that people can stand a bit closer to the jumps, too,” says Eric.

The first fence at the Horsequest Quarry at 4AB and 5.

“I think it’s quite light for an early combination at five-star – there’s a lot of space between each fence. But Huntsman’s is quite strong, and as there’s a combination here, a combination at the next fence, and a combination at Huntsman’s, it means we’ve gone a bit lighter here.”

That combination at 6AB is the Bloomfields Brush Buckets, which features two maximum-height brush-topped jumps and a choice of routes between them, thanks to a strategically placed tree.

“You can jump the first one on an angle and ride the turn a bit wider, but I don’t think they will,” says Eric.  “That would get you straight to the last one but take any relationship out of it, and I don’t think the bulk of the riders will do that.”

The Bloomfields Brush Buckets.

Eric finds inspiration in all sorts of places – like the waterfall table fence by the Lake, which first came to fruition after Eric saw a similar design used as decoration in a restaurant. A lot of this year’s overarching themes, though, came from a more broadly continental input.

“I’ve got a heap of people I teach in the Netherlands who run at quite a decent level,” he says. “So I went to Strzegom and Arville and a few other places and did some coaching, and a few bits came out of that.”

Wherever inspiration strikes, though, the reality of each year’s Badminton course starts in the same, agricultural way.

“It starts with me and a load of bits of wood, and I go around and put them on the ground and think, ‘well, we can do this, or this, or this, and that, and that’, and then I start playing with angles, and then you come to something else and you think, ‘actually, I could put that there,’ and so you change it.”

“Originally, I was going to do two open corners with cord piles in Huntsman’s [7abcd], and then I thought, ‘actually, if I’m going to do open corners, I’d like to do an open oxer to start’, and so then you take the cord pile somewhere else. So it all starts to develop over three or four months of just fiddling around with it. It’s really handy that it’s a very different process here to anywhere else. Because I live locally, I pop in all the time – and so then you get a very different product because you don’t need the adjustability that a portable fence gives you – you can build permanent. Whereas if you fly in for four days or a week, you need a certain amount of portables that you can pop down.”

The view through an airier Huntsman’s Close.

Each year, it feels like the tree cover over Huntsman’s gets a bit greener, a bit airier, and a bit less like the bit of the woods in a fairytale where the witch appears and bundles a few kids into an oven. Which, you know, is quite nice, as it’s always one of the most influential spots on the track, whether it comes early or late, and probably, the competitors don’t really need a foreboding vibe shift to add to their nerves as they canter down to it.

This year, it doesn’t feel, necessarily, like a radical redesign of the complex, but it certainly shouldn’t be approached with any complacency. There’s a tough, technical direct route and a pretty slow alternative with an additional jumping effort, but anyone with any hope of being truly competitive will need to tackle the quickest line through – both to stay on the right side of the time and to truly sharpen themselves, and their horses, up for what’s to come.

That straight route will see our competitors jump a wide open oxer before powering on down on six (or seven, but preferably not) strides to two left-handed open corners – and the key to success over them will come down to two things: accepting a bolder angle to the first, and committing patiently to the line to the second, which doesn’t make itself completely visible until you’re just a couple of strides away from the second.

“The more angle you accept to the first corner, the easier the second corner will be – if they try to make the first of the corners too straightforward, the second becomes much more difficult,” he says. “Then, they have to be patient, hold their line, and wait for it to open up for them.”

The tough line from corner to corner at Huntsman’s.

Even with its modern, airier feel, this wooded pocket of the course is still plenty full of trees, which Eric sees as one of its greatest selling points from a design perspective.

“There’s a really nice placement of trees in here now, which means you can sort of bounce the riders’ line off the trees and control the angle of how they get to a fence,” says Eric, who puts this into practice with a tree just ahead of the first corner, which he’s expecting riders to be brave enough to go to the right-hand side of. “It means that you can create questions that would only really work in this space – you couldn’t rebuild them at Burghley or anywhere else.”

With the first major test behind them – and yes, this will be one where we’ll see plenty of influence exerted – they’ll head to the lake, jumping a single table at 8 en route.

Fence 9, with course builder for scale.

The first entry point into the lake is fence 9, the Lightsource bp Log, which looks impressive from a spectator standpoint: it’s a heavy, airborne piece of timber that’s offset on an angle from the take-off point, but it’s also a question we’ve seen here and elsewhere before, and it tends to ride very well.

Then, they’ll canter back out of the water, run along the length of the lake, and turn back on themselves at the far end to tackle the main complex here, the Mars Badminton Lake at 10ABCD, which has benefited from renovation work and new banking, and a complete re-levelling within the water itself.

There’s a couple of options here, and we’ll likely see both in action. The direct route begins over a deformable palisade on dry land, after which they’ll immediately head down a short, steep bank into the drink. Then, it’s a stiff line to a wide corner in the water – the same we saw used last year, though repositioned this time – and out over a skinny brush on dry land. The long route involves a different pagoda, a slightly longer route to the corner, which creates a more forgiving angle, and then two brushes on the way out.

The direct route through the Lake complex, which will take competitors over the corner in the water and out over the right-handed skinny brush.

Similarly to Huntsman’s, Eric makes great use of unjumpable elements within this question – though unlike the trees there, they’re not used to make the line trickier, but rather to lend a helping hand. Before the colossal corner in the water, there’s a pagoda to the right hand side, and riders will want to land travelling and balanced from that steep entry into the water, skim close to the pagoda to help them find a super line to the corner, and then, after landing from that, stay close to the second pagoda, which is to the left and on the landing side, and begin their turn to the final element once they reach it.

The key? A forward, travelling, super-balanced pace, and, although all three elements are related, a commitment to seeing each through with its own respective line and approach. If they try to be too direct here, that corner becomes very nearly unjumpable.

The final element at the Lake, with Eric for scale.

For those who opt to take the longer route, they won’t add a hugely significant amount of time – but because there is an additional jumping element, riders will have to be very conscious of how much jump they’ll need to leave in the tank for later in the course.

Finally, the lake segment of the course comes to a close with a familiar skip over the World Horse Welfare waterfall table at 11, which they can travel to at a good pace and enjoy a pipe opener before they begin their journey to the guts of the course.

Before they disappear into the woods, though, they’ll have another fence to jump: the Joules Tables at 12. Competitors will only have one of the two tables to jump, and there’s no conceivable difference between them – it’s just whether the left or right-handed option comes up better for them. This marks a return of last year’s collapsible tables, which were in a similar spot on the lawn of Badminton House last year, though, of course, jumped in the other direction.

Laura Collett and London 52 over the Broken Bridge, last seen in 2022. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

There’s another single fence at 13: the fan-favourite KBIS Broken Bridge, which is a real old-school galloping fence and a test of nothing but boldness. It’s a sloping upward approach to a small upright, and on the landing side of that, a maximum-dimension two-meter drop to the far side of a ditch. Riders will want to approach this with tonnes of pace, which will help their horses land far out from the fence, and will give them enough airtime to really think about their life choices, because who does this? For fun? Bizarre.

At 14 we come to the British Equestrian Federation Triple Bar, which is another pacey, bold, galloping fence, and is just about big enough to park a car underneath it, if that’s what you’re into. They call this a let-up fence, which makes sense if you’re deranged, I guess, because it has a three-meter base spread.

While the last couple of fences have been colossal, though, they certainly haven’t been technical, and now, with a bit of air in their lungs and bravado running through their veins, our competitors will meet the LeMieux Eyelashes at 15ABC, which is a totally new complex this year.

The LeMieux Eyelashes at 15ABC.

In short, this combination is an angled hedge to an open, 1.80m wide water-filled ditch, to another angled hedge. Simple, right? In reality, though, it’s a serious question and a harbinger of a lot of intensity to come.

To stand a chance of success here, riders will need to be ultra-committed to seeing their line through and riding straight and positive to stay on it. But that wide, water-filled ditch lends an element of enormous unpredictability, because horses won’t see it until they’re in midair over the first element, which, in theory, should be a forward one-stride distance, and if they’re surprised by it, take a peek into it, or drop a shoulder while they read it, the line could suddenly disappear from view.

“Perhaps I’m overthinking that,” says Eric, sagely, while absolutely not overthinking it at all. This will be a very interesting combination to watch in action.

A closer look at the ditch to the final brush element of the Eyelashes.

Upon landing, our riders will head into one of the longest galloping stretches on course, where they’ll need to find a high cruising speed to regain some time on the clock while also remaining conscious of their horses’ remaining energy levels. The Countryside Brush Oxer at 16 will help them to get back up in the air after this healthy gallop, before they tackle the Mars Equestrian Sustainability Bay water at 17AB and 18.

Airy enough? The upright rail at the MARS Sustainability Bay water.

The direct route comprises a 1.20m MIM-clipped airy upright rail at A to a narrow 1.30m drop down into the pond. Then, they’ll splash through and canter out of the pond and jump a steeply angled log at 18, which is nearly perpendicular to 17B and is related. Once again, though, we see a handy visual aid here: there’s a tree on dry land on the far end of the pond that riders will need to stay close to, and then use it as their marker for where to complete the trajectory of their curving line to the log. If they cut it too straight, it looks – and likely becomes – almost unjumpable. Done right, it’s absolutely readable and quite a friendly fence, not least because horses will see the wide open space of the long galloping lane ahead stretching in front of them, which is a great encouragement.

The final element of the water, when viewed from a much friendlier angle.

Fence 19, after another long run, is a classic ditch-and-brush galloping fence, which looks particularly imposing from the side, where you can see the depth of that ditch, but shouldn’t cause a spot of bother for horses or riders as they take it in stride.

Then, there’s another big galloping stretch before Eric asks horse and rider alike to close the stride and put their thinking caps on for a much more technical effort. This is fence 20ABC, the Ineos Grenadier Sunken Road, which makes use of last year’s newly-minted sunken road complex. The first element is a skinny brush arrowhead on a slightly bending forward three-stride line to a step up, with plenty of undulating terrain in between, and then a forward one stride to another skinny brush arrowhead.

The Sunken Road at 20ABC.

21 sees another smart use of the estate’s undulations, with an option of two different MIM-clipped birch rails at the top lip of a quarry. The left-handed option is smaller, but set right on the lip, while the right-handed option is set back a bit, but is built to slightly larger dimensions.

Then, it’s over that duo of aforementioned Vicarage Vees at 22/23 and 24/25 – easy-peasy, surely, as Eric points out that the Rolex Grand Slam Rails makes the Holland Cooper Vicarage Vee, the world’s most terrifying rider frightener, ‘slightly easier’, which I’m sure fills everyone who has to jump it with confidence, maybe.

There’s a new look this year to 26ABCD, the Lightsource bp Mound, which is another spot on course that boasts a useful crater of terrain, which has been so well-used in previous years. This year, though, Eric and his team have built a beefy drop into it, and particularly interestingly, he’s put a lip on the edge of the drop to stop horses from sneaking and sliding their way off it – instead, they’ll have to leap, and that’ll add no small amount of unpredictability to how and where they’ll land, because the landing, too, is on a downhill slope.

Looking down from the apex of the Lightsource bp Mound. The direct route will take them over two stumps, out of shot to the right hand side of this view.

“It’s a tiny rail, but it’ll stop them sliding down on their bellies – it’ll throw them further from the bank and create more power that the riders then need to control,” says Eric.

Once they’ve landed and are travelling onward again, they’ll traverse the flat bottom of the dip and then run up a short, steep uphill slope to the final two elements, a duo of skinny brush-topped stumps on offset angles. There’s two bending strides between them, and it’s not one of the toughest lines we’ll see on this course, which reflects Eric’s desire not to overtax a tiring horse.

The primary part of the question, then, really is that drop, and how they prepare for it, how they manage the variables of the landing, and, of course, the line they take over it – jumping it slightly left-to-right will make the rest of the line come up easier. It’s one of the last big questions on this course.

Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue jump the cordwood pile in 2023. Photo by Nico Morgan Media.

But it’s not the last question. Next up is 27AB, the Wiltshire Brewers’ Drays, which appears after horses and riders have left the woods and re-entered the heart of the park. There’s two options here: the direct route is a truly colossal cordwood pile with a maximum top spread of two meters, and so if riders feel their horse is tiring, they can opt for a line of two more conservatively-sized cordwood piles. That’s a decision that’ll be unique to each horse and rider; will one large jumping effort take more out of them than adding another whole jump to their roster?

The stiff angles of the Worcester Avenue Brushes.

The penultimate combination on course is 28ABC, the Worcester Avenue Brushes, a trio of angled brushes that can be tackled pretty well straight through, if riders are chasing the time, or can be made a bit more forgiving by steering around unjumpable elements to meet each fence more directly.

Fence 29, the Sound Gates, is a straightforward deformable white upright gate, which will give way if it’s given a clang from a wearying horse, and fence 30ABC, the final combination, sees a change to the end of the course: last year, and in many previous years, there’s been an uphill run at the end of the course from the Keeper’s ditchline, whereas this new route, which travels through the former cooldown area, gives horses level ground, and no climb, to finish on. This final combination, the Savills Keeper’s Curve, is two fences on the direct route or three on the indirect – on the straight route, it’s two wide timber oxers, and on the indirect, it’s a timber oxer to a double of upright rails. Timewise, it won’t have much impact one way or another, so the choice will come down to what a rider knows about their horse: do they struggle with a tidy front end, or with making width, when they’re running out of steam? Most, it’s likely, will choose the two oxers.

And home! No one can possibly miss the final fence, which has a bright new colour scheme this year in honour of new title sponsor, MARS Equestrian.

Having cleared that question, our competitors have just two fences left to tackle: the Rolex Brush Roll at 31, a hefty-enough rolltop in the old collecting ring, and then, finally, the brightly-coloured Mars M at 32, which is in the middle of the arena. Very good riders have made avoidable mistakes at the final fence here before, so it mustn’t be underestimated, but the thrill of the finish, the roar of the crowd, and the proximity to home can be powerful motivators to find that last push.

This year, many of our UK-based competitors will feel confident in their preparation, despite a tricky spring season thanks to the weather. That’s because this year, the CCI4*-S at Thoresby Park was broadly praised for being a much more suitable Badminton feeder course, with sufficient technicality and dimensions to get horses and riders alike into the right headspace.

This, Eric explains, is no coincidence.

“[Thoresby director and designer] Stuart Buntine has been Assistant Technical Delegate here. I had him here for the two or three days when we first put out fences, so he had a bit of an idea of what was going to be here. I think when you start to get into that thought process, when you start to put your fences out you’re a bit braver, because you know you’re still way off of what it’ll be here. But if you’re not dealing with this, and you’re just coaching Pony Club over the winter and what-have-you, and a lot of your winter training’s at a meter, or a meter ten-ish, then you suddenly come here and it’s a bit in-your-face.”

And so, with the course walked, the preparation milestones ticked off, and the breathing exercises jotted down from the Calm App, we’re all — media, riders, and spectators alike — just about to ready to head into the heart of the action. We’ll see you there, ENers.

For a closer look at each fence on the course, head to the Cross Country App guided coursewalk, featuring Mark Todd, or tune in to Badminton TV for a video tour of the course’s intricacies, included as part of your subscription to watch this year’s livestream in full. You can find all the information you need on membership here. Go Eventing!

EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse — thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

The MARS Badminton Horse Trials: Website | Box Office | Entries | Timetable | Course Preview | Live Stream | EN’s Coverage

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class. Photo by Libby Law.

For the third time, World Number One Oliver Townend has made it to the final hurdle of the coveted Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, which has only ever been won by two riders, and for the third time, his quest has ended in disappointment. Just a week and a half after taking the Kentucky title with nine-year-old Cooley Rosalent, and following on from a decisive victory in last year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with the seasoned warhorse Ballaghmor Class, Oliver has announced this afternoon that he will not contest this week’s MARS Badminton Horse Trials, at which he was one of the hot favourites to take the win with his Burghley winner, who has finished in the top five multiple times at the Gloucestershire fixture. Oliver had already withdrawn his other two entrants, Cooley Rosalent – who instead went to Kentucky – and Tregilder.

The decision comes after a notable withdrawal before the dressage for the 17-year-old gelding from the CCI4*-S at Burnham Market, where Oliver historically runs his horses to time after withdrawing them before cross-country at their first four-star outing at Thoresby (or Belton, as it was previously). This, it appears, came as the result of a poorly-timed abscess that has derailed the three-time five-star winner’s preparation.

“Absolutely gutted to withdraw Ballaghmor Class from this week’s Badminton Horse Trials,” writes Oliver in a statement on his social media. “He had [an] abscess earlier in the season and consequently missed a couple of runs and gallops. This morning he went for his final gallop and with the 11&1/2 [minute] cross country course combined with the possible soft ground we don’t feel he’s at his normal 5* fitness right now. This is the first time in his career he’s missed a 5* and with the Rolex Grand Slam being at stake (for the 3rd time for me!) and Thomas’s record with 10 top-5 placings at 5*, 4 of which from Badminton including twice 2nd place, and his 3 wins at Burghley and Kentucky, we really hoped he would finally get the Badminton trophy he so badly deserves.”

To ‘Thomas’s’ legion of fans, Oliver offers some reassurance: “He’s fit and well, and knowing his huge heart he’d give us his all, but it’s simply not in his best interest to run this week and his welfare is our top priority,” he continues. “Thomas will be rerouted to plan B but for now we’d like to give a huge thanks to his owners, our sponsors and our team who are all equally gutted but support us to make this call to look after our superstar.”

This week’s MARS Badminton Horse Trials will see 71 combinations battle for the crown, following today’s last-minute withdrawal of Laura Collett’s Bling, too.

EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse — thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!

The MARS Badminton Horse Trials: Website | Box Office | Entries | Timetable | Live Stream | EN’s Coverage