ENs Ultimate Guide to the 2024 MARS Badminton Horse Trials – Eventing Nation

ENs 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 | ENs Coverage

THE COMPETITION:Welcome to the third CCI5* of the 2024 season, following on from a great week at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event two weeks ago and Australias Adelaide the week prior to that. This years a special year for Badminton: its the 75th anniversary of the event, a fact thatll be commemorated with a special pop-up museum featuring souvenirs of some of the greatest moments of the past eight decades. You can find it by the main scoreboard. This year, we also welcome a new title sponsor in MARS Equestrian so expect lots of chocolate for everyone, and also a bright and bold new fence in thearena in the MARS colour way. Oh, and for the more technically-minded among you, our competitors will be riding CCI5* Test B. Therell be 32 fences on the cross-country course, spanning 43-45 jumping efforts.

WHATS AT STAKE:The Badminton title,obviously, but also consider this:a major chance for some riders to prove to their team selectors that they really areall that. Oh, and the prize pots gone up this year too, to a juicy 425,000 making it the biggest prize fund in eventing. Theres no longer a Rolex Grand Slam on the line, though: we start again, following the eleventh-hour withdrawal of two-part leaderOliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class.

THE OFFICIALS:Sandy Phillips (GBR) will be President of the ground jury, and is joined this week by Jane Hamlin (USA) and Christian Steiner (AUT). Joanna Gillespie (GBR) will take on the role of jumping judge. The course is designed, once again, by Britains Eric Winter, advised by Mike Etherington-Smith, and Phillip Kelvin Bywater returns in his role as showjumping course designer. The events Technical Delegate is Andrew Temkin (USA), assisted by Stuart Buntine (GBR). Nicky Salmon is chief steward, and course building has once again been undertaken by the Willis Brothers.

THE ENTRIES:We head into Badminton week with a packed field of 71 entries spanning seven nations Great Britain, New Zealand, Ireland, France, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland are all represented here. Because its an Olympic year, theres a couple of notable absences: 2023 champion Lordships Graffalo wont line up for Ros Canter, though she does have an entry with last years Pau champion, Izilot DHI, and 2022 winner London 52 is staying home for Laura Collett, who instead rides debutant Hester. But dont rue their absence too much, because it opens the door for a seriously wide-open competition. As mentioned above,Oliver Townendand his five-star champion, warhorse, and perennial Badminton bridesmaid Ballaghmor Class will be fighting to try to win the Rolex Grand Slam, and they present a formidable threat to their opposition: Ballaghmor Class has won Burghley (twice) and Kentucky and has never been out of the top five in his nine five-star starts.

But theyre far from the only contenders for the win.Emily King makes her return to Gloucestershire on super form with her two-time Grantham Cup winnerValmy Biats, with whom shes owed some horsemanship good karma after pulling up in tough conditions while looking very competitive last year. The worlds most successful five-star rider,WilliamFox-Pitt, is also on very good form with the smart mare Grafennacht, who had a podium finish at Maryland last year, and, of course, theres Ros on a five-star winner to think about.Tim Price and Vitali might have been cursed by three fences down in each of their five-star starts so far, but theyve been hard at work jumping in Spain over the winter, and if we see them begin the week on a sub-20 as they did at Burghley last year, theyll put themselves in a serious position to try to shake off those demons. Weve also got a returning five-star winner in Chilli Knight, who took Bictons pop-up CCI5* in 2021 withGemma Stevens and has looked super since returning to the sport. Could this be the year for 2011 Burghley championCaroline Powellto return to the top of the podium, this time with her excellentGreenacres Special Cavalier? Or couldDavid Doel second at Burghley last year and extraordinarily consistent at this level become one of Badmintons most popular winners with Galileo Nieuwmoed? Or have we failed to name the winner at all in this entire section? Its a beautiful sort of Badminton, because truly, it could come from anywhere. Expect some great stories to unfold this week.

For the thirdyear running, the BBC wont be broadcasting Badminton well, not in its entirety, anyway. Youll be able to watch all the action, including trot-ups, by subscribing to Badminton TVfor a one-off price of 19.99. This gives you access to the livestream, wherever you are in the world, as well as nearly 100 hours of archive footage from prior events, peaks behind the scenes, course previews, and profiles. If youre in Britain, youll need to turn to BBC2 to watch the final competitors show jump live on Monday afternoon from 2.00 p.m.

We also recommend tuning in toBadminton Radio, which is broadcast live from the event all day, every day from 8.30 a.m. Helmed by a team of experts and riders alike, it features live commentary, interviews, insights into the competition, and much more. You can pick up a headset to tune in on site at the event, or tune into 87.7 FM locally or listen online here.Or, if you want to dive into previews, reviews, and reaction shows, head to the Eventing Podcast to get your fix.

Hashtags:

#badmintonhorsetrials, #badmintonbound, #rolexgrandslam

Accounts: Badminton Horse Trials,CrossCountry App, Horse&Hound, FEI Eventing, andEquestrian Team GBR. Dont forget to follow EN, too well be bringing you all the insanity in the middle you could possibly need! (And if youd like to see the real behind-the-scenes life of an EN journo on tour, you certainly can. #shamelessplug) Want to know the juiciest stats throughout the competition? Make sure you follow EquiRatings.

Tuesday,7 May:

Wednesday, 8May:

Thursday, 9 May:

Friday, 10May:

Saturday, 11 May:

Sunday, 12May:

FORM GUIDE Check out and bookmark ENs exclusive Form Guide detailing the stories and stats of each horse and rider in this years field.

Meet the Horses and Riders of the 2024 Badminton Field

BADMINTON WEEK STORIES AND REPORTS

SUNDAY

I Never Thought It Was a Possibility: Caroline Powell Wins MARS Badminton 2024

It All Comes Down to This Let the Clenching Commence! Live Blog from the Finale of MARS Badminton Horse Trials

One Horse Spun and Three Withdrawals at MARS Badminton Final Horse Inspection

SATURDAY

An Emboldening Day for the Sport: Tim Price Takes the Lead on Vintage Badminton Cross-Country Day

Its Satur-yay! Butts On Seats and Buckle Up Live Blog from Cross Country Day at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

FRIDAY

A 5* With a 4*-S in the Middle Riders React to Cross Country at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

Friday Afternoon: Ros Retains Lead Amid Bum-Cam Reign of Terror

Reigning Champ Ros Canter Takes Friday Morning Badminton Lead

The 2024 MARS Badminton Field: At A Glance

Diamonds on the Soles of their Shoes Live Blog from Dressage Day Two at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

THURSDAY

Video Break: Badminton Goals and Memories with Laura Collett

Thursday Afternoon at Badminton: Tiana Coudray is Best of the Bunch; Bubby Retains Lead Overnight

Being Here is a Dream Come True: Comeback Queen Bubby Upton Takes Thursday Morning Lead at Badminton

Shine Bright Between the White Boards Live Blog from Dressage Day One at MARS Badminton Horse Trials

WEDNESDAY

Movers, Shakers, and Heart Horses: Team EN Makes Their Picks for Badminton

One Hold and an Eleventh-Hour Withdrawal, But All Accepted at MARS Badminton First Horse Inspection

Continental Influence, A Relocated Finish, and a Soggy Spring: Walk the 2024 Badminton Course with Eric Winter

PRE-EVENT COVERAGE: Back to Badminton: Bubby Upton Defies the Odds, Again

Rolex Grand Slam Contender Oliver Townend Withdraws from Badminton

Drawn Order for MARS Badminton Horse Trials: Tom Jackson to Lead Off

Top Contender Among Latest Badminton Withdrawals

MARS Badminton Entries Revealed: 87 Pairs Accepted for 2024 Event

A Happy Anniversary Indeed: Badminton Prize Money Increased to 425,000 for 2024

Badminton Box Office Opens for 2024 Priority Tickets

ENs 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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ENs Ultimate Guide to the 2024 MARS Badminton Horse Trials - Eventing Nation