Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent came so close to adding the Mars Badminton Horse Trials title to their 2024 Kentucky win – with Oliver instead landing the runner-up spot for a fifth time after lowering a single fence in the final phase.
The pair, who led from the dressage, had a handful of time penalties in hand over eventual winners Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo’s coming into the showjumping, but could not afford a rail.
Paul and Diana Ridgeon’s Cooley Rosalent jumped beautifully, just tipping the green Spillers oxer at fence 10 in an otherwise classic round.
“She is incredible and she’s still very young,” said Oliver, who finished on a final score of 26.3 with the 11-year-old mare.
“I thought she jumped a very good round, probably a better round than when she won Kentucky, really. She touched one fence, and that’s this place a little bit for me as well. It’s the fifth second I’ve had [at Badminton], I’ve only won it once, so it takes a bit of winning this one.”
He added: “She can go around any course in the world, she can be competitive in any class in the world. She’s blood enough for Burghley. She moves good enough and jumps well enough for a championship horse. Ability wise, she’s got everything.”
Ros and “Walter” became the first combination to reclaim the Badminton title, which they previously won in 2023. Ros paid tribute to her late mentor and friend Caroline Moore in an emotional interview after her win.
Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue repeated their third-place finish from 2023, climbing from 20th after dressage. The only addition to their dressage score of 30.8 was 0.4 of a showjumping time-penalty, which didn’t affect their final position.
The 2025 podium is a replica of 2023 – with the exception of Oliver’s ride; in 2023 he was runner-up with Ballaghmor Class.
Gemma Stevens and Chilli Knight, who had held third ahead of the showjumping, dropped down the order. After a superb cross-country performance yesterday, today wasn’t this pair’s day and five fences down left them in 15th place in the final standings.
Harry Meade and Cavalier Crystal jumped out of order, as Harry had two horses in contention, and they kicked off the afternoon session with a classy clear to finish on their dressage score. The pair finished on their dressage score of 33.8 to climb from 33rd to fourth.
Harry was also sixth with Superstition (39.8) – a miscommunication about a stride to the oxer at fence 10 and a rolled pole in the middle part of the final treble adding eight penalties to their score.
Emily King and Valmy Biats were sandwiched between Harry’s two rides in the final results, backing up their fourth-place finish from 2024 with fifth place this year.
Kelvin Bywater’s track proved an influential conclusion to the Gloucestershire five-star, with just five clean sheets from 54 starters.
How to watch Badminton Horse Trials
If you want to watch the live action from Badminton Horse Trials from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. This year, Badminton TV has teamed up with ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch Badminton – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £21.99. Go to clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/badminton to subscribe or to activate your account as an existing Badminton TV subscriber. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. As part of Badminton TV, you can enjoy the documentary programme Legends and Legacy, a fly-on-the-wall insight into the 2024 event and preview of 2025.
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