Popular four-star horse Barry’s Best can run at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials again this year after getting in from the waiting list.
Rosie Thomas and “Baz” got into the event yesterday when French rider Jean Teul ¨re withdrew Matelot Du Grand Val. This will be the pair’s fifth consecutive Badminton start, with their best result being 21st in 2008.
And although the Badminton website has yet to be updated, the event’s twitter feed reports that American rider Kristin Schmolze has pulled out Cavaldi, who strained a suspensory ligament on his last gallop before flying to England.
“In the long run, ‘Joey’ should recover just fine, but right now, there is nothing anyone could do to quickly turn this around and make him better in such a short time,” said Kristen. “It is in Joey’s best interest to rest his leg right now for a short period and come up with Plan B.”
Her withdrawal lets in Willa Newton’s Just Faith, which means first-timer Willa has two rides because she already had her young rider team gold and individual silver medallist Neelix in the running.
Horses will continue to be taken from the waiting list to replace those who are withdrawn until 2pm on Monday, 30 April. So far, horses down to 20th have been offered the opportunity to compete, while in previous years the eventual figure has been between 17 and 43.
We will be running our popular H&H Live interactive written commentary across all four days of Badminton, in association with Baileys Horse Feeds. Read more and sign up for a reminder at www.horseandhound.co.uk/badminton2012live.
