Tom McEwen and The Fieldmaster are your Agria Blenheim Palace CCI4*-L winners. Photo by Libby Law Photography.
Britain’s Tom McEwen made history today (Sunday, September 20) at the Agria Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, as the first ever rider to win both the Agria CCI4*-L and the GFS Saddles CCI4*-S 8 & 9-Year-Old in the same year. He topped off a spectacular weekend by finishing in first and second places in the CCI4*-L, his two horses separated by just 0.1 of a penalty.
By the time Tom went into the arena as last to go on Jo and James Lambert and Penny Barker’s nine-year-old Irish sport horse The Fieldmaster, he had already secured victory whatever happened. He could afford one fence down on the young horse, a new mount this season, to remain ahead of faithful campaigner Brookfield Quality, a 17-year-old owned by John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn.
“I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but fortunately both horses jumped superbly,” Tom confessed, as the magnitude of his achievement sunk in. “It’s a shame they couldn’t both have won, but what a weekend. I came here with five very nice horses and no expectations. It is a very nice result for Tom Strawson who took ‘Trev’ [The Fieldmaster] around here last year, but ‘Norris’ [Brookfield Quality] is an absolute star, a great old boy.”
Tom, who accrued a prize fund of £28,000 in this competition, is the first to score a one-two in the CCI4*-L at Blenheim since William Fox-Pitt in 2002 with Stunning and Tamarillo.
Sam Ecroyd also had an excellent weekend, rising from fifth and sixth places to finish third and fifth with clear show jumping rounds on Bloomfield Manuscript and Jackpot, a horse produced by partner Emily King.
New Zealander Jesse Campbell was one of four antipodean riders to finish in the top 10, in fourth place on Speedwell, and Burghley heroine Gemma Stevens was sixth on another son of Chilli Morning, Chilli’s Jester.
The Australian rider Oliver Barrett, who was making his first visit to Blenheim, produced a beautiful clear show jumping round on Sandhills Briar to finish 10th and best of the eight young riders contesting The Blenheim Challenge. Oliver was representing the Stars & Stripes side, who scored a convincing 12.5-4 win over the UK’s Rising Lions.
The GFS Saddles CCI4*-S 8 & 9-Year-Old class has been a pointer to future stardom ever since its inception in 2009 and, once again, this prestigious competition for young horses went right to the wire. With the top 20 running cross country in reverse order of merit, Tom McEwen, last to go on Alison Swinburn and John and Chloe Perry’s Brookfield Danny de Muze, produced an inspired performance to clinch the top prize of £7,500.
He could afford to be nine seconds over the optimum time of 6 minutes 54 seconds, but not 10, and, as in the Agria CCI4*-L, time penalties were to prove hugely influential. In the end, Tom and the talented eight-year-old Irish-bred gelding were only five seconds over to overtake the 2025 national champions Katie Magee and Cushlas Indigo, whose brilliant round was only seven seconds over the optimum time.
Bubby Upton finished third on the exciting prospect Sancerre de Tigi, ahead of Tom Jackson (My Star Turn, fourth), Yasmin Ingham (Kinda Corvette, fifth) and Irishman Padraig McCarthy (Kilroe Tiger, sixth), who was fastest of all with only 1.2 time penalties.
Katrina Midgley, Event Director, said, “This is an event like no other. We cannot thank the competitors, their support staff, our team and Blenheim Palace enough for all the effort and hard work.”
In addition to the thrilling four-star competition, visitors were treated to incredible events across the four days including the evoke Eventer Challenge, a series of Connolly’s RED MILLS Retraining of Racehorses showing classes, the Pony Club Jumping Championship and demonstrations from the European 3* Squad. Away from the equestrian activities, visitors enjoyed falconry displays, dog agility and delicious picnics from Fortnum & Mason. Plus influencers Meg Elphick and Simon Grieve made an appearance, much to the delight of fans.
Vicki Wentworth, CEO of Agria said, “The atmosphere at Blenheim is just gorgeous. At the end of our second year as title sponsor, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together. There’s something incredibly special about seeing our Agria-sponsored riders Ros Canter, Kirsty Chabert and Tom McEwen out there, competing alongside riders at the very top of their game, all striving for the title. And then to see more dogs here than ever, and our ambition to make Blenheim the UK’s most dog-friendly equestrian event really come to life, has been wonderful. To finish the week with Tom taking a record-breaking win – I don’t think we could have asked for a more special ending.”
In recognition of the many incredible individuals who work behind the scenes, the awards were numerous, with over 200 exhibitors in contention. Culinary Concepts (Large Stand), Bishops & Haig (Small Stand) and Mayston (Open Space), all won.
The teams managing the horses were also recognised with Marcus Bean, groom to Clarke Johnstone, being awarded the 2026 Top 4* Groom Award, which had been judged across Bramham, Scone Palace and Blenheim 4* events throughout the season.
“It has been an incredible week of talent, both experienced and new,” continued Katrina, “And I for one, cannot wait to see what the next generation of riders will do for our sport. We look forward to seeing you all in 2027!”
The Agria Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials will be back next year from September 16-19. For more information, please visit www.bpiht.co.uk.
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