Laura Collett fulfilled a childhood dream...
By winning the Badminton Horse Trials, presented by Mars Equestrian, on Karen Bartlett and Keith Scott's London 52. Laura's final score of 21.4 — she added 0.4 of a show jumping time penalty to her dressage mark — is a Badminton completion score record.
Laura Collett riding London 52 wins the Badminton Horse Trials Trophy
Runner-up Ros Canter, the only rider to finish on her dressage score, demonstrated that she has another world champion in the making with the 10-year-old Lordships Graffalo, while Oliver Townend solidified his world number one position with third and fifth places on Swallow Springs and Ballaghmor Class, respectively, with each of his greys hitting a fence.
The Princess Royal presents the Frank Weldon trophy to Rosalind Canter. The trophy is awarded to the Youngest British owned and ridden horse: Lordships Graffalo who finished in 2nd place.
It was the first British one-two-three since Pippa Funnell led William Fox-Pitt and Leslie Law to victory on Supreme Rock 20 years ago in 2002, and Laura Collett revealed that Pippa's victory was her childhood inspiration. 'I was going cross-country on my aunt's shoulders and I wanted to be Pippa Funnell winning Badminton,' she explained.
Laura had the advantage of having a fence in hand over Ros when she entered the arena, but the pressure was immense. 'That horse is amazing,' she said of her Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo. 'He jumped out of his socks.' I couldn't see any distance, but he just kept getting higher and higher.'
Ros was overjoyed for her new superstar, who was competing in his first five-star event. '"Walter's" eyes were on stalks when we arrived, but he enjoyed every minute of it, especially the awarding of prizes. He'll have learned a lot in the last few days.'
Piggy March and the gallant 17-year-old mare Vanir Kamira, the 2019 Badminton champions who set the early cross-country standard, finished an honorable fourth with only one pole down. 'I believe that is the best jump "Tilly" has ever done. I was worried today because she left her heart out on the cross country course yesterday, but I shouldn't have been.'
David Doel, who lives just 20 minutes away, had a fantastic debut, finishing sixth on Galileo Nieuwmoed with a double clear, and Kitty King, who was a member of last year's winning European championships team, finished seventh on Vendredi Biats.
Irishman Austin O'Connor finished eighth on the spectacular Colarado Blue, and American first-timer Tamra Smith finished ninth on Mai Baum. Richard Jones and Alfies Clover from the United Kingdom rounded out the top ten.
After a three-year hiatus, the event received overwhelming support. Over the four days, there were 180,000 visitors, and the many tradestands did a roaring trade, delighted to be back.
‘It was everything I could have wished for,’ said Event Director Jane Tuckwell. ‘Lots of happy people, fantastic result, wonderful sponsors in our presenting partner Mars Equestrian and our official partner Lifesource BP, it’s a dream come true. Bring on 2023.’
