After an absolutely excellent performance by England Laura Collet and London, she finished on just 21.4 penalty points, setting a record for the lowest score at the traditional Badminton Horse Trials. In second place followed another rider from the UK Rosalind Canter at Lordships Graffalo, the only rider to finish on her dressage score while her compatriot Oliver Townend cemented its world number one spot with third and fifth places at Swallow Springs and Ballaghmor Class, respectively. It was the first British one-two-three ranking since Pippa Funnell, William Fox-Pitt and Leslie Law 20 years ago set that record in 2002, and Laura Collett revealed that Pippa’s victory at Supreme Rock had been her childhood inspiration.
“I walked around the terrain sitting on my aunt’s shoulders and I wanted to be Pippa Funnell winning Badminton,” she said. When Laura entered the arena in the decisive show jumping she could afford a demolition, and still become champion, but the pressure was enormous.
“That horse is amazing,” she said of her Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo. “He jumped off his socks. I could not see the distance anywhere, but he just kept going. ”
After a three-year corona break, the support for the event was huge. One hundred and eighty thousand visitors were at the square during the four days.
Follow Laura’s path to victory:
