BADMINTON TO BE HOTLY CONTESTED

Mitsubishi_Motors_logoBadminton_LogoEntries are now in for the 2015 running of the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and they include 9 previous winners and riders from 12 nations.

There will be a shorter Waiting List than usual – 85 horses are accepted leaving just 14 to wait for a vacancy over the 6 weeks before the Trials start on 6th May.

Australia has its usual strong hand, headed by 2014 winner Sam Griffiths, 2010 champion Paul Tapner and 2006 winner Andew Hoy. New Zealand will send no less than 16 riders including previous title holders Mark Todd and Jonathan Paget and of course the most successful non winner of all time, Andrew Nicholson who has entered both Nereo and three times Burghley winner Avebury. The British entry is lead by William Fox Pitt who hopes to ride Parklane Hawk and Chilli Morning, Pippa Funnell, Mary King and the last British winner here Oliver Townend with Armada, the 2014 runner up. Zara Phillips has entered High Kingdom as a precaution but hopes to take him for her first visit to Kentucky the week before Badminton.  

World and Olympic team gold medallist Ingrid Klimke comes on another foray to Badminton with her Pau 4 star winner Horseware Hale Bob; the French entry is headed by former World Champion Jean Teulere while there are single entries from Brazil, Ecuador (a first here), Italy, South Africa and Sweden.

As is now customary, the Trials start with the Mitsubishi Motors Grassroots Championships on Wednesday 6th May, followed by 2 days of Dressage, Cross Country on Saturday 9th and Show Jumping on Sunday 10th. Italian course designer Giuseppe Della Chiesa has been hard at work on his track, reversed in direction from last year and that will be unveiled to the media and on the web on 15th April.