Monday News & Notes from Futuretrack

While most eyes were on Badminton this weekend (by the way, you can catch up on all of our coverage from Badminton here), there was another key Olympic selection trial happening in Germany at Marbach. The event hosted a CCI4*-L and a CCI4*-S, the latter of which was won by French rider Astier Nicolas and the 13-year-old Selle Francais gelding Babylon de Gamma (Mylo Carthago – Sunshine Des Ka, by Happy Vergoignan) in come-from-behind fashion after starting the weekend in sixth place on a 28.0 and subsequently adding no penalties.

The CCI4*-L was won by Australia’s Andrew Hoy and his Tokyo Olympic partner, Vassilly de Lassos (Jaguar Mail – Illusion Perdue, by Jalienny), finishing nearly on their dressage score with one second of time added on cross country for a total of 31.0.

Other notables from the field include Germany’s Michael Jung with fischerChipmunk (Contendro I – Havanna, by Heraldik), who’s been kept under wraps over the last season to preserve the 16-year-old gelding’s legs ahead of this summer’s Olympics. Michael and his Kentucky champion finished seventh in the 4*-S at Marbach after starting the week in first on a score of 25.3. This would have just been a qualifier for Michael, so some sensible time on cross country kept him from taking the win.

With a fully French podium in the 4*-S and plenty of international heavy hitters in the field, it’s an exciting preview of what’s to come this summer. We now look ahead to what should be an exciting next month as we anxiously await the announcement of short lists and teams moving ahead to Paris. Stay tuned!

You can view full results from Marbach here.

Weekend Results

MARS Badminton Horse Trials [Website][Final Scores] [Livestream Replays] [EN’s Coverage]

Galway Downs Spring H.T. (Temecula, CA) [Website] [Scores]

Majestic Oaks Ocala H.T. (Reddick, FL) [Website] [Scores]

Unionville May H.T. (Coatesville, PA) [Website] [Scores]

Queeny Park H.T. (St. Louis, MO) [Website] [Scores]

River Glen Spring H.T. (New Market, TN) [Website] [Scores]

Tryon International Three-Day Event (Mill Spring, NC) [Website] [Scores]

Winona Horse Trials (Hanoverton, OH) [Website] [Scores]

European International Events

International Marbach Eventing (GER) [Website] [Scores]

Monday News & Reading

Fresh off a stellar weekend at Kentucky, go “behind the stall door” with the Thoroughbred partner of Jennie Brannigan, Twilightslastgleam. Find out what makes him tick, why he’s affectionately known as “Grandpa”, what brought his personality out as a young horse, and much more in this profile.

Catch up with the newly crowned USEF National 5* champion Lauren Nicholson in the latest edition of the USEA podcast.

Is your horse’s forage meeting his energy requirement? Find out what you should be thinking about with a forage-focused diet here.

The Queen herself was on hand yesterday to take in the final day of the Badminton Horse Trials, which celebrated its 75th anniversary this weekend. See more here.

Monday Video Break

In honor of William Fox-Pitt’s announcement that he was retiring from 5* competition yesterday, let’s look back on his stellar Badminton victory aboard the stallion Chilli Morning, who also had an offspring (Gemma Stephens’ Chilli Knight) competing this weekend!

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