Seven British first-timers are among the Badminton Horse Trials entries, for the 4–8 May event presented by Mars Equestrian.
Greta Mason comes forward with Geoff Mason and Sarah Winfrey’s Cooley For Sure, with whom she took the under-25 national title at Bramham Horse Trials last year. They made a solid five-star debut at Pau Horse Trials in the autumn of 2022, finishing 14th with a jumping clear across country.
Georgia Bartlett is entered for her first five-star on her double junior team silver medallist Spano De Nazca, who was third in the CCI4*-L at Millstreet last year.
Kristina Hall-Jackson will hope to build on her five-star debut at Burghley Horse Trials last year with CMS Google, after the pair finished 25th at the British autumn classic.
Andrew James has three Burghley completions under his belt, including a 23rd place last year with his partner for his first tilt at Badminton, Celtic Morning Star.
Caroline Clarke, a dentist, has been entered for Badminton before but never actually made it to the first trot-up. She is slated to start with Touch Too Much.
Helen Martin and Andreas won the CCI4*-L at Kronenburg last year and now come forward to their first five-star.
Jo Rimmer and Isaac Newton complete the line-up of British first-timers. Jo was entered for Badminton last year, but didn’t make it off the waiting list. She has previously completed the five-stars at Pau (twice) and Luhmühlen Horse Trials on the same horse.
Lithuania’s Aistis Vitkauskas is another who languished on the waiting list last year and should have a chance to start this year, again with Commander VG.
Australia also has one debutante in Sarah Clark – whose story captured hearts at Burghley last year when she admitted she wasn’t sure she had enough money to get home. She ended up leaving LV Balou Jeanz in Britain for the winter, at fellow Badminton entrant David Doel’s yard, while going home herself for a few months.
Surrey-based Hollie Swain is New Zealand’s only debutante, with Solo, on whom she completed Burghley last year, while Switzerland also has one first-timer, Felix Vogg with Cartania. Felix is already a five-star winner, having taken top spot at Luhmühlen last year on Colero.
Germany is another country fielding just one first-timer, Anna-Katharina Vogel, who will ride DSP Quintana P. The pair were 11th at Pau last year.
Finally, France has two debutants in Luc Château – who brings forward Viens Du Mont and Troubadour Camphoux, the latter having been for the event last year but then withdrawn – and Arthur Marx (Church’Ile).
In total, there are 14 first-timers among the Badminton Horse Trials entries for 2023.
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials
If you are interested in watching Badminton Horse Trials live from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, then you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. To sign up, visit watch.badminton-horse.tv – click the “Sign Up” link in the top right corner of your screen, then follow the instructions. An annual subscription to Badminton TV costs £19.99 and gives you 365 days of access to all of the content in the Badminton TV library, the ability to watch the action live, and the option to replay all of this year’s action later.
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