Badminton Horse Trials


The Badminton Horse Trials is a 5 day event, one of only six annual Concours Complet International Five Star ***** events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale. It takes place in April or May each year in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort in South Gloucestershire, England.

History

Badminton was first held in 1949 by the 10th Duke of Beaufort in order to let British riders train for international events, and was advertised as "the most important horse event in Britain". It was the second three-day event held in Britain, with the first being its inspiration – the 1948 Olympics. The first Badminton had 22 horses from Britain and Ireland start, and was won by Golden Willow. Eight of the 22 starters failed to complete the cross-country course. Badminton was the home of the first European Championship in 1953, won by Major Laurence Rook on Starlight XV. In 1955, Badminton moved to Windsor Castle for a year, at the invitation of the Queen, in order to hold the second European Championships. Badminton was first televised in 1956.
In 1959, Badminton was held in two sections, called the Great and Little Badminton, due to the popularity of the event and the number of entries. The horses in the two sections jumped the same fences, but were separated into the two divisions based on their money winnings. This graded approach was abandoned after the 1965 event.
In 1989, the current director and course-designer Hugh Thomas, who rode in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, took over from Frank Weldon, a former winner, who is credited with bringing the event to the pinnacle it is at today.
Badminton is held in the 6 square kilometre Badminton Park, where the car parks, tradestands, arena and cross-country courses are located.
Badminton has been cancelled on several occasions – in 1966, 1975, 1987 and 2012 the event was cancelled completely, and in 1963 it was downgraded to a one-day event due to bad weather. In 2001 it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease. In 2012 it was cancelled due to waterlogged ground.

Status

Together with the five-star rated Kentucky Three-Day Event and the Burghley Horse Trials, Badminton forms the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. Only two people have ever won the Grand Slam; Pippa Funnell in 2003 and Michael Jung in 2015/16. Australian Andrew Hoy nearly took the title in 2007 but lost it when he had a pole down at Burghley. The remaining CCI***** rated events are the Luhmühlen Horse Trials, the Australian International Three Day Event and the Stars of Pau. It is also now part of the HSBC FEI Classics—a points-based system containing the CCI***** events.
The cross-country day at Badminton attracts crowds of up to a quarter of a million and is the second largest for money made in the world.

Winners

YearRiderHorseNotes
1949John Shedden Golden Willow
1950Tony Collins Remus
1951Hans Schwarzenbach Vae Victis
1952Mark Darley Emily Little
1953Laurence Rook Starlight
1954Margaret Hough Bambi V
1955Frank Weldon KilbarryEvent held at Windsor
1956Frank Weldon Kilbarry
1957Sheila Wilcox High and Mighty
1958Sheila Wilcox High and Mighty
1959Sheila Wilcox-Waddington Airs and GracesLittle Badminton
1959Shelagh Kesler Double Diamond
1960Bill Roycroft Our Solo
1960Martin Whiteley PeggotyLittle Badminton
1961Laurie Morgan Salad Days
1961Peter Welch Mr. WilsonLittle Badminton
1962Anneli Drummond-Hay Merely-a-Monarch
1962Penny Crofts PriamLittle Badminton
1963No Major EventEvent Downgraded due to weather
1964James Templer M'Lord Connolly
1964Sheila Waddington GlenamoyLittle Badminton
1965Eddie Boylan Durlas Eile
1965Martin Whiteley The PoacherLittle Badminton
1966No EventCancelled due to weather
1967Celia Ross-Taylor Jonathan
1968Jane Bullen Our Nobby
1969Richard Walker Pasha
1970Richard Meade The Poacher
1971Mark Phillips Great Ovation
1972Mark Phillips Great Ovation
1973Lucinda Prior-Palmer Be Fair
1974Mark Phillips Great Ovation
1975No EventCancelled due to weather
1976Lucinda Prior-Palmer Wide Awake
1977Lucinda Prior-PalmerGeorge
1978Jane Holderness-Roddam Warrior
1979Lucinda Prior-Palmer Killarie
1980Mark Todd Southern Comfort III
1981Mark Phillips Lincoln
1982Richard Meade Speculator III
1983Lucinda Green Regal Realm
1984Lucinda Green Beagle Bay
1985Ginny Holgate Priceless
1986Ian Stark Sir Wattie
1987No EventCancelled due to weather
1988Ian Stark Sir WattieAlso came second on Glenburnie
1989Ginny Leng Master Craftsman
1990Nicola McIrvine Middle Road
1991Rodney Powell The Irishman II
1992Mary Thomson King William
1993Ginny Leng Welton Houdini
1994Mark Todd Horton Point
1995Bruce Davidson Eagle Lion
1996Mark Todd Bertie Blunt
1997David O'Connor Custom Made
1998Chris Bartle Word Perfect II
1999Ian Stark Jaybee
2000Mary King Star Appeal
2001No EventCancelled due to foot and mouth epidemic
2002Pippa FunnellSupreme Rock
2003Pippa Funnell Supreme RockWon as the second leg of winning the Grand Slam of Eventing
2004William Fox-Pitt Tamarillo
2005Pippa Funnell Primmore's Pride
2006Andrew Hoy Moonfleet
2007Lucinda Fredericks Headley Britannia
2008Nicolas Touzaint Hildago de L'Ile
2009Oliver Townend Flint Curtis
2010Paul Tapner Inonothing
2011Mark Todd NZB Land Vision
2012No EventCancelled due to weather
2013Jonathan Paget Clifton Promise
2014Sam Griffiths Paulank Brockagh
2015William Fox-Pitt Chilli Morning
2016Michael Jung La Biosthetique-SamWon as the final leg of winning the Grand Slam of Eventing
2017Andrew Nicholson Nereo
2018Jonelle Price Classic Moet
2019Piggy French Vanir KamiraFirst year of CCI5* designation
2020No EventCancelled due to COVID-19

Casualties

1976
2007
2010
2018
In 2007, after a long period without rain, the ground was considered to be too hard, resulting in 22 withdrawals.