Champion trio head entry list for prestigious Badminton show

TINA COOK, the current European Three-Day Event champion, world champion Zara Phillips and last year's winner, Oliver Townend, are among the entries for the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials which run from April 30 to May 3.

Cook will be riding Miners Frolic, her winning partner at Fontainebleu last summer, in his first attempt at this competition.

Townend has entered four horses including Carousel Quest, last year's Burghley winner. Phillips will ride Glenbuck, placed 16th at Badminton in 2008.

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Northallerton's Nicola Wilson has two horses entered, Opposition Buzz and Master Banks. She rode Opposition Buzz to team gold at the European Championships at Fontainebleu last year and came second at Bramham International Horse Trials with Master Banks.

Almost 150 entries were submitted and 85 have been accepted, with the remainder on a waiting list in order of qualifying points.

A strong British entry includes previous winners William Fox-Pitt, whose choices include Macchiato and Idalgo, and Mary King with three possible rides.

British team members Sharon Hunt and Tankers Town, and Daisy Berkeley with Spring Along, are also on the list.

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Townend will be in America the week before Badminton, attempting to win the 230,000 Rolex Grand Slam for winning Badminton, Burghley and Kentucky in a row. This has only been done once before, by Britain's Pippa Funnell.

Cross-country day at Badminton is being run this year on Sunday, May 2, with the final showjumping phase on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Badsworth and Bramham Moor Hunt point-to-point is being held today at Britain's newest course, Whitcliffe Grange, near Ripon. This is the first time the course will be used as the West of Yore meeting, planned for the end of January, had to be cancelled because of bad weather.

There are 157 entries for the eight-race card and the maiden race has been divided three times.

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The first race is at 1pm and there will now only be 30-minute intervals between the races.

First to go is the confined race, which has the largest number of entries with 33. The Point-to-Point Owners and Riders Club race for novice riders has attracted 24 entries. There will be signposts from the A61 Ripon by-pass to the course and the postcode for satellite navigation is HG4 3AS.

The sport of polocrosse – otherwise known as rugby on horseback – gets underway next week with an Easter training weekend at the Northern Racing College at Bawtry, Doncaster.

Players from all over the country are expected to take part, with ages ranging from six to 60.

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"Standards will vary from those who aspire to be selected for national squads to those who play recreational polocrosse," said Yorkshire organiser Christine Stansfield.

Coaches include Guy Robertson, captain of the UK Open squad; Tom Simkin, coach for the UK Junior squad; and Vickie Metcalfe, vice captain of last year's Under 21 squad.

The weekend will include both mounted and on-foot training sessions, fun chukkas and an Easter egg hunt. Temporary membership is also available.

The Yorkshire Polocrosse Academy, which was launched last year, will be running taster sessions in May with experienced trainers and schoolmaster ponies.

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The academy is being jointly funded by the UK Polocrosse Association and the British Equestrian Federation in an attempt to increase participation in the sport.

For more information call Christine Stansfield on 01944 738714.

Double gives Holly reason to blog

HOLLY WOODHEAD took first place in both Pony Trials sections at the recent Oasby Horse Trials.

Her preparations for team selection are documented in the blog she writes for Bishop Burton College's Championships website www.ponyeuropeans2010.com

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The college is hosting the FEI European Pony Championships from July 28 to August 1. Holly took first place in section M riding Split Splat with a combined penalty of 32.70 after a double clear in the showjumping and gaining just 3.2 time penalties on cross country.

She won section N on Ballmoney with a score of 33.00 after double clears in the jumping and cross-country phases. Holly is based at the family's riding centre at Grimsby and also trains with her father Ian and his wife Heidi near York.

At Bishop Burton the final arrangements are being made for the championships. Cross-country course designer Eric Winter has been working on the challenging track and the dressage technical delegate, Gotthilf Riexinger, will be travelling from Germany to visit next month.

He said: " I am hoping for a wonderful competition for all disciplines and a good family atmosphere."

The college is to host a Town and Country event during the final weekend.