On the edge of glory. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Here we go ENers! It’s Saturday. It’s Badminton. It’s cross country day. Buckle up for the best day.
I’ll be with you all day long, live blogging ‘til I can live blog no more, bringing you every moment of action from Eric Winters’ brilliant Badminton course. You can have a look at what’s in store for the 2025 contenders on CrossCountryApp and see Tilly’s take on the whole shebang right here. As ever, we’ve wrangled the riders for their insights into the track – read their reactions here.
We’ve talked about the field – it’s scorching. We’ve talked about the weather – also scorching. The fans have flocked to Badminton Estate and it’s a sell-out crowd. If you can’t be there, be the next best thing and settle in with appropriate snacks of your choosing while you follow along with live updates right here as the competition plays out.
Here’s a quick look at the rolling podium as things stand at the start of cross country:
1️⃣ 🇬🇧 Leading the pack is Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent who laid it all down in the dressage ring to sit on a score of 21.1, just 1.3 penalties ahead of the rest of the field.
2️⃣ 🇬🇧 Chasing the top spot is Tom McEwen and JL Dublin who showed their mettle between the white boards for a score of 22.4.
3️⃣ 🇬🇧 Rounding out the top three after the first phase is Gemma Stevens and Jalapeno on a score of 24.7.
You’ll find the full leaderboard right here.
We’re due to get underway at 11:30am local time / 6:30am EST / 12:30pm CEST when Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI will trailblaze their way around the track and give us our first real look at what the horses and riders will be taking on. See what time your favorites are going here.
There are a couple of withdrawals to update you on: Jesse Campbell has decided to reroute to Luhmühlen with Cooley Lafitte and Aaron Millar and Friendship VDL have withdrawn this morning.
Whilst we await that first countdown of the day, here’s some links for your perusal:
▶️Dressage Day One – Test-by-test Analysis
▶️Dressage Day One – Morning Report
▶️Dressage Day One – Afternoon Report
▶️Dressage Day Two – Test-by-test Analysis
▶️Dressage Day Two – Morning Report
▶️Dressage Day Two – Afternoon Report
▶️ENs Classic Form Guide
Before we get down to business, a little ‘refresher’ on the no. 1 rule of following EN’s classic live blog: refresh, refresh, refresh – and all will be revealed.
If you’re catching up with this later and are the type to like things in order, scroll ⬇️ and read ⬆️. If going backwards is more your jam, have at it.
As you know, here at EN we just can’t help ourselves when it comes to bringing eventing superfans like ourselves every single scrap of the horseplay at 5* events. You’ll find all of our MARS Badminton crazy right here. And that’s not all. There’s also all sorts of stuff going on over on our Instagram channel @goeventing – follow along here.
With all that said, it’s time to kick on and go eventing! Let’s do this thing…
MARS Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [XC Maps] [EN’s Coverage]
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EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton is supported by Kentucky Performance Products. To learn more about Kentucky Performance Products’ science-backed nutritional support products, click here.
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6:30am
🇬🇧 FIRST COMBINATION OUT ON COURSE: Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI
Dressage Score: 33.6
Place: 32
They’re off! A roar from the crowd and Kirsty and ‘Betty’ are out on course.
The ground’s quick at Badminton this year and our trailblazers sure look fast as they gallop along the track. They’re blistering through the Savills Staircase at 4abc – really strong through there.
They squeak through the flag at the Agria Corners over the a element at 6 – Betty was drifting through the shoulder slightly, but they’re through and on to the Lake at 9 and 10. They’re brilliant through there – straight and bold. Kirsty’s elbows are going as she pushes for the distance between the two roll tops to drop into the water. She made it happen and it rode brilliantly. The crowd there is enormous already, and loud.
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MARS Badminton Horse Trials: [Website] [Entries] [Timetable] [Timing & Scoring] [Live Stream] [XC Maps] [EN’s Coverage]
________________________________________________________________________________
EN’s coverage of MARS Badminton is supported by Kentucky Performance Products. To learn more about Kentucky Performance Products’ science-backed nutritional support products, click here.
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