Badminton Horse Trials

The Badminton Horse Trials is a three-day event, one of only six annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Four Star **** events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), which takes place in April or May each year in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England.

Badminton was first held in 1949 by the 10th Duke of Beaufort in order to let British riders train for future 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, and was 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, it was decided to hold Badminton 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 & 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`s at today.

Today`s Badminton is held in a 6 square kilometer (1500 acre) area Badminton Park, where the car parks, tradestands, arena and cross country courses are located.

Badminton has been forced to cancel on several occasions for various reasons. In 1966, 1975 and 1987 the event was cancelled completely and in 1963 was downgraded to a one-day event due to bad weather. In 2001 it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease.

Between 1961 and 1991, Badminton was sponsored by Whitbread, one of the longest sponsorships for any sport. In 1992, Mitsubishi Motors took over sponsorship and recently renewed their deal until 2011.

Together with the four-star rated Rolex Kentucky Three Day and the Burghley Horse Trials, Badminton forms the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. The only person ever to win the Grand Slam is Pippa Funnell. Andrew Hoy (Aus) 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, which are the largest for any paid-entry sport event in the United Kingdom, and the second largest in the world (after the Indianapolis 500)

Badminton Winners

Paul Tapner and Inonothing, the winning combination at Badminton Horse Trials 2010, at The Lake during the cross-country phase.

The event has been won by the following people and horses:

1949 John Shedden : Golden Willow
1950 Tony Collins : Remus
1951 Hans Schwarzenbach : Vae Victis
1952 Mark Darley : Emily Little
1953 Laurence Rook : Starlight
1954 Margaret Hough : Bambi V
1955 Frank Weldon : Kilbarry (Event held at Windsor)
1956 Frank Weldon : Kilbarry
1957 Sheila Waddington (Sheila Willcox) : High and Mighty
1958 Sheila Waddington (Sheila Willcox) : High and Mighty
1959 Sheila Waddington (Sheila Willcox) : Airs and Graces
1960 Bill Roycroft : Our Solo
1961 Laurie Morgan : Salad Days
1962 Anneli Drummond-Hay : Merely-a-Monarch
1963: Event downgraded to 1 day event due to bad weather.
1964 James Templer : M`Lord Connolly
1965 Eddie Boylan : Durlas Eile
1966: Event cancelled due to bad weather.
1967 Celia Ross-Taylor : Jonathan
1968 Jane Holderness-Roddam (Jane Bullen) : Our Nobby
1969 Richard Walker : Pasha
1970 Richard Meade : The Poacher
1971 Mark Phillips : Great Ovation
1972 Mark Phillips : Great Ovation
1973 Lucinda Green (Lucinda Prior-Palmer) : Be Fair
1974 Mark Phillips : Colombus
1975: Event cancelled due to bad weather.
1976 Lucinda Green (Lucinda Prior-Palmer) : Wide Awake
1977 Lucinda Green (Lucinda Prior-Palmer) : George
1978 Jane Holderness-Roddam (Jane Bullen) : Warrior
1979 Lucinda Green (Lucinda Prior-Palmer) : Killaire
1980 Mark Todd : Southern Comfort III
1981 Mark Phillips : Lincoln
1982 Richard Meade : Speculator III
1983 Lucinda Green (Prior-Palmer) : Regal Realm
1984 Lucinda Green (Prior-Palmer) : Beagle Bay
1985 Ginny Leng (Ginny Holgate) : Priceless
1986 Ian Stark : Sir Wattie
1987: Event cancelled due to bad weather.
1988 Ian Stark : Sir Wattie (Stark also came second on Glenburnie)
1989 Ginny Leng (Ginny Holgate) : Master Craftsman
1990 Nicola Coe : Middle Road
1991 Rodney Powell : Irishman II,
1992 Mary King : King William
1993 Ginny Leng (Ginny Holgate) : Welton Houdini
1994 Mark Todd : Horton Point
1995 Bruce Davidson : Eagle Lion
1996 Mark Todd : Bertie Blunt
1997 David O`Connor : Custom Made
1998 Chris Bartle : Word Perfect II
1999 Ian Stark : Jaybee
2000 Mary King : Star Appeal
2001: Event cancelled due to UK foot and mouth epidemic.
2002 Pippa Funnell : Supreme Rock
2003 Pippa Funnell : Supreme Rock
2004 William Fox-Pitt : Tamarillo
2005 Pippa Funnell : Primmore`s Pride
2006 Andrew Hoy (AUS) : Moonfleet
2007 Lucinda Fredericks (AUS): Headley Britannia
2008 Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) : Hildago de L`Ile
2009 Oliver Townend (UK) : Flint Curtis
2010 Paul Tapner (AUS) : Inonothing