All-star cast prepares to thrill the crowds at Badminton yet again

A total of 85 entries have been accepted with 49 riders on the waiting list.

Twelve nations will be represented and without a doubt the leading rider will be Germany’s Michael Jung, competing at Badminton for the first time.

Jung is the reigning World and European Champion and will be riding Leopin FST. At the weekend he led the German team to victory at the first leg of the FEI Nations Cup Eventing competition at Fontainebleau in France.

Six previous winners are among the entries – Mary King, last year’s HSBC FEI Classics Series champion; Pippa Funnell, former Rolex Grand Slam winner; William Fox-Pitt, six times winner of Burghley; Mark Todd, last year’s Badminton winner and double Olympic gold medallist; Andrew Hoy, triple Olympic team gold medallist and Oliver Townend, winner of both Badminton and Burghley.

North Yorkshire’s Nicola Wilson has two entries, Opposition Buzz and his half brother, Bee Diplomatic. Both horses are owned and were bred by Rosemary Search, who is based in Wetherby.

Zara Phillips could have a chance of a top placing with High Kingdom, while New Zealander Andrew Nicholson will be aiming for his first win after a record 32 completions to date at Badminton.

His former ride, Armada, will compete this year with Oliver Townend, who has a total of three entries.

The Irish are out in force, keen to win one of their country’s three slots at the London Olympics.

For many riders this will be the final opportunity to catch the eye of the selectors before the squads are announced for Greenwich.

Badminton begins with the Mitsubishi Motors Grassroots Championships on May 3.

The international competition starts on Friday, May 4, with two days of dressage, followed by cross country on Sunday and the culmination of the competition on Bank Holiday Monday, May 7, in the main arena.

TWO Yorkshire-based Para-dressage riders are in contention for a place on the Irish team for the London Paralympic Games.

Kathryn Wheelock, from Glusburn, near Keighley, and Gerry Savage, from Foggathorpe in East Yorkshire, will both be competing at the French Championships in Deauville this weekend, hoping to do well enough under the eyes of the selectors.

Although they live in Yorkshire, both riders hold Irish passports and have been training with the Ireland Para-Dressage squad.

Ireland has qualified a team for the first time for the Paralympics and there are nine riders vying for four places in the team.

Kathryn has ridden for Ireland since 2006. She will be riding the 13-year-old British Warm Blood, Westpoint First of Many (Mr Fly).

After France they will be heading for Hartpury and the British Dressage Winter Championships where they will compete in the Para-Dressage Open Championships.

Gerry will be riding her horse Blue and after the competition in France, they will return home for a week and then travel to Moorsele in Belgium for another competition.

“The final selection, based on the highest scores, is likely to be made after that,” said Gerry.

“We have been training hard and we hope to do the best we can.”

THE British Horse Society is asking owners to think twice about putting their horses in foal.

Thousands of horses are suffering because there are not enough homes available to care for them properly, says the BHS, and equestrian charities are almost at breaking point.

Over-breeding is becoming a major problem, with owners breeding indiscriminately from unsuitable animals.

Lee Hackett from the BHS had this advice: “Before breeding from their horse, owners need to ask themselves a number of questions.

“Why are you breeding from your mare? What future will the foal have? Do you have the experience, time and money to raise a foal?

“If you cannot confidentally answer these questions, then now is not the time to be producing a foal.”

The BHS is offering help through its Breeding Advice Line on 02476 840570.

A bareback showjumping competition will be one of the attractions at the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials in September.

Following the popularity of the Eventers High Jump, in which some riders choose to jump a fence without a saddle so they can gain an extra “life” to stay in the competition, the riders suggested holding a bareback class.

In the new class, all the competitors will ride bareback and will be jumping 1.05m against the clock, with an optional joker fence at the end, standing at 1.15m. The total prize money is £1,000.

The horse trials run from September 6-9 and the bareback competition will be held on the Sunday.

Word is already believed to be spreading fast among eventers about the new class, according to the organisers.

For more information about the event go to www.blenheim-horse.co.uk.