All the Blenheim Horse Trials news brought to you by Horse & Hound

A grey horse jumps a skinny cross-country fence in front of Blenheim Palace, the venue of Blenheim International Horse Trials — (Image credit: Alamy)

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Blenheim Horse Trials is one of the most prestigious four-star international three-day events in the world. It is held in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, the home of the Duke of Marlborough, in Oxfordshire.

The main arena, where the dressage and showjumping take place, is set in front of beautiful Blenheim Palace and the event usually hosts both a CCI4*-L and an eight- and nine-year-old CCI4*-S class, alongside a range of supporting competitions.

Blenheim's new cross-country course-designer for 2026 is 52-year-old Canadian, Jay Hambly. Jay has designed tracks at several Central American and Caribbean Games and is lined up to do the 2027 Pan American Games in Peru. Jay assisted Mark Phillips in designing the 2025 European Championships track at Blenheim. David Evans, who was previously Blenheim's designer, remains the event’s course-builder.

The young horse CCI4*-S (formerly CIC3*) was added in 2009, with Piggy French’s ride Flying Machine taking the title in that first year. This class has become a strong pointer to stars of the future, with former victors including Mark Todd’s ride NZB Land Vision, who went on to win Badminton, and London 52, who won Pau two years after his Blenheim triumph with Laura Collett before going on to Olympic medal glory.

Blenheim ran the young rider European Championships in 1994 and the senior Europeans in 2005, when Britain took the team title and Zara Tindall (née Phillips) was the individual gold medallist on Toytown. It also hosted the senior European Eventing Championships in 2025, when Britain’s Laura Collett won individual gold, and Tom McEwen silver, but Britain did not win a team medal on that occasion.