Badminton Horse Trials 2019: Oliver Townend Trots the Top of the Leaderboard after Day One #MMBHT After the first day’s Dressage at the 2019 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, Oliver Townend has yet again clinched the top spot to head the leaderboard overnight with Cillnabradden Evo. Fresh-faced from Kentucky, Townend has two horses entered into this year’s proceedings. His second ride, the stunning grey ISH Ballaghmor Class, is in the line-up for tomorrow, which will conclude the dressage phase of this year’s event. Cillnabradden Evo, known as Gary to his…

An Historic Year for Olympia Written by Amy Powell The two biggest show jumping classes of the week at The London International Horse Show saw momentous occasions for both of its winners. Great Britain’s William Whitaker took his first ever Olympia win in the Longines FEI World Cup Leg on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday, Italian Alberto Zorzi made history as only the 6th rider to ever win back to back Olympia Grand Prix’s. Saturday saw an emotional William take home a prize fund of 42,500 Euros, riding Utamaro D…

A Double Victory for the Cayenne Puissance at Olympia A thrilling Cayenne Puissance class had the crowd roaring with excitement at Olympia, The London International Horse Show when four riders took on the 7ft 4in wall in the fifth and final round last night. Only two combinations, however, managed to leave all the bricks intact: Britain’s Guy Williams on Mr Blue Sky UK and French rider Mathieu Billot on Dassler, a horse jumped in the 2017 Cayenne Puissance by Louise Saywell. The wall was at its highest since 2006, when…

Dressage at Olympia Crowns a New Duke Written by Amy Powell After two nights of tough competition in the World Cup Dressage classes at Olympia, the London International Horse Show welcomed an international contingent of winners. Dutch rider Hans Peter Minderhoud claimed the Grand Prix on board Glock’s Dream Boy N.O.P and Frederic Wandres was crowned as Olympia’s first German winner of the Freestyle riding Duke of Britain. World Cup Grand Prix Monday night saw Hans Peter pilot the promising young 10 year old Glock’s Dream Boy N.O.P, to a…

Mark Todd Leads Following The Dressage Wrap Up at Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials By Andy Baber, Sportsbeat MARK Todd believes it is all still to play for in the cross-country after taking the overall lead at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, toppling defending champion Oliver Townend. The five-time winner put himself in prime position for his sixth title after posting a dressage score of 26.4 on Kiltubrid Rhapsody to storm into first at the prestigious four-star event. In the process, the New Zealand Olympian dislodged Townend, who had…

London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials Top riders lined up for inaugural Osborne Horse Trials including world no.1, Oliver Townend Showcase format featured shortened dressage and showjumping in a compact arena Estimated 5,000 spectators turned up to Isle of Wight event The sport of eventing gained a new audience this week, courtesy of the inaugural London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials. In a first for the Isle of Wight, mainland-based event riders and their horses boarded the ferry for the short hop to the Island, and to one…

 Jonelle Price and Classic Moet Make it a Year to Remember at the 2018 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials Jonelle Price (NZL) and Classic Moet this afternoon have been announced the winners of the 2018 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. Talking about her first 4 star win, Jonelle said “Maybe it hasn’t quite sunk in, I’m so excited for Classic Moet and her owner Tricia Rickards.” she continued “I was beginning to wonder if it was going to happen and it has, and Badminton is obviously one of the biggest so…

Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class storm into First Place at Badminton The penultimate rider of the day, Great Britain’s Oliver Townend, stormed into first place riding Ballaghmor Class to finish an exciting two days of dressage at Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. Finishing on the best-recorded Badminton dressage score in 18 years of 20.8, Townend talked of how he felt going into the arena and to whether he thought the horse was up for a good test “We think he’s capable, we’ve seen glimpses of it a home but not…

New faces shine on a showery Mitsubishi Motors Cup An exciting competition unfolded on the final day of the Mitsubishi Motors Cup (1st – 2nd May) as the jumping phases proved highly influential and a big shake up to the eventual placings in both the BE90 and BE100. Taking place on the days leading up to the World famous Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (2nd – 6th May), the Mitsubishi Motors Cup gives eligible riders competing at BE90 and BE100 level the exciting opportunity to ride on the same estate…

Jonty Evans Raises the Cup at Belton International It was a very emotional Jonty Evans who lifted the 2018 Lycetts Grantham Cup this weekend. The Irishman hit the headlines last year when he successfully crowd-funded £500,000 to buy his Rio 2016 Olympic partner Cooley Rorkes Drift (aka ‘Art’) when the previous owner decided to sell – this is a horse who has, literally, thousands of owners. With very red, damp eyed Jonty confessed: “I’ve never even won an Advanced class, let alone an international. This is amazing. Art is the horse…

Cooley Horses Reign at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials Reported by Amy Powell It’s been an action-packed week at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials 2017, with both the CCI*** and CIC***8/9 Year Old classes along with the final leg of the Event Rider Masters taking place. CCI*** Results – Kim Returns to win After 16 Years In a strong CCI*** section, it was America’s darling, Kim Severson, who took the red rosette a whole 16 years after last riding here. Lying in third after dressage and maintaining her…

Burghley, First Class Performance from a 4 Star Debutant British riders take top four placings on home turf Oliver Townend takes first CCI4* win in eight years Piggy French makes a strong comeback Written by Amy Powell On the final day of The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, it is Great Britain’s Oliver Townend once again taking the title after an eight year hiatus on board a brilliant young horse, Ballaghmor Class. Having led overnight after the cross county phase, Oliver and the Irish bred gelding were the last to…

Dressage day two influential as Sir Mark Todd (NZL) leads from USA’s Lauren Kieffer and Michael Jung (GER) By Kate Green Nearly 40 years after the legendary Sir Mark Todd (NZL) first rode at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) he is in the lead after dressage with Leonidas ll on a mark of 36.7. In a star-studded line-up, the double Olympic champion heads the USA’s Lauren Kieffer on Veronica ll by just 0.3 of a penalty, with world number one and FEI Classics™ leader Michael Jung now in…

Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials Day 1 – Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam take early lead GBR’s Gemma Tattersall in overnight second with Arctic Soul and Mackenna Shea (USA) third on Landioso at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials  World number one Michael Jung (GER) has yet again set the target with a beautifully ridden dressage test on his old friend La Biosthetique Sam, now 17, to take an early lead at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, sixth and final leg of the 2016/2017 FEI Classics™. The double Olympic…

Badminton Horse Trials ‘Eventful’ Cross Country After an eventful cross country day at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, it is all change at the top of the leader board once more. Christopher Burton had a disappointing stop with Graf Liberty at the C element of fence 15 – the Hildon Water Pond – after the horse lost impulsion coming out of the water from the B element and up the bank to the skinny log. “What a shame, he jumped so well” Chris said of the 12 year old…

It’s All Change for Badminton Horse Trials Leader Board after Day 2 of Dressage Written by Amy Bennett At the conclusion of the dressage at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, and ahead of the cross country phase tomorrow, Australia’s Christopher Burton and Graf Liberty take the lead on board the striking 12 year old Irish Sports horse Graf Liberty.   Burton smashed the interim dressage score set by Germany’s Ingrid Klimke just after lunch of 36.4, as the 6th last combination to go, he posted a score of 32.9…

A Continental First Day of Dressage at Badminton Written by Amy Bennett The first day of dressage at The Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials saw a continental stranglehold of the top five, with two Frenchmen and two Germans take the top four placings, with New Zealand’s Mark Todd rounding off the group. France’s Thibaut Vallette stormed into the lead in the first session after lunch with a polished performance, scoring 38.7 penalties. Although an Olympic team gold medallist and individual silver medallist in Rio last year, not only is this…

Double glory and third time lucky for our Mitsubishi Motors Cup winners History repeated itself in the BE100 today as the 2016 winner of the Mitsubishi Motors Cup once again rose victorious in the BE100 class as the trophy this year returns to Cornwall’s Katie Hancock with a new ride Coddstown Pet. It was third time lucky for BE90 winner Laura Avery, from Gloucestershire, who beat off tough competition on Willoway Free Spirit in the BE90. BE100 Katie Hancock piloted her seven year old mare Coddstown Pet to a winning…

Badminton Horse Trials DAY 1 Lost Shoes and Shenanigans at the Trot Up Written by Amy Bennett This year’s vet inspection at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials was not without drama as 83 horses were presented in front of the ground jury. Badminton stalwarts Andrew Nicholson, Oliver Townend and Tina Cook all presented two horses each early on which flew through, but then it was the turn of French man Astier Nicolas who presented his Rio mount, Piaf De B’Neville and was subsequently sent to the holding box. After representing…

Michael Jung retains Kentucky crown, with Livio (FRA) and Tindall (GBR) holding on to second and third By Kate Green Germany’s Michael Jung smashed yet another record when winning the Kentucky Three-Day Event for the third year running on the 12-year-old FischerRocana, a mare that may not have the biggest movement but certainly has the biggest heart. Jung did have a jumping fence down, but his supremacy in the dressage and cross-country meant he could afford it and is second in the FEI Classics™ after three out of six legs…

Cross Country Carnage at The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials Written by Amy Bennett After a day of ups and downs, the leader after dressage, Chris Burton, retains his lead ahead of tomorrow’s show jumping at The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. The Australian was one of the few riders today that really displayed just how well this demanding 4* track could and should be ridden with a masterful clear round on board Nobilis 18, adding just 3.2 time penalties to their overnight score to be sat on 33.2 time…