The 2026 LeMieux-sponsored Badminton grassroots championships featured a BE100 course designed by James Willis. Riders faced a 2,997-metre track with an optimum time of six minutes and 19 seconds across 21 fences.
The course opened for competition on 5 and 6 May at the annual Badminton Horse Trials. It included obstacles such as the BE Tree Trunk, Tuckwell’s Triple Bar, LeMieux Lake, and the final LeMieux Horseshoe. Organisers provided fence-by-fence photographs to help competitors prepare.
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Sarah Bullimore and her home-bred gelding Corimiro delivered a clear round inside the optimum time to take the lead at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials cross-country phase on 9 May 2026. Holly Richardson and Ballyneety Silver Service were the first pair to complete the course fault-free and inside the 11min 30sec target. Several top riders incurred penalties or suffered falls, reshaping the leaderboard.
The BE90 course at the 2026 LeMieux Badminton Horse Trials has been unveiled, with designer James Willis creating a 2,989-metre track featuring 21 numbered fences.
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Course designer James Willis has unveiled the 2026 LeMieux Grassroots Championships cross-country course at Badminton, running anticlockwise like the five-star event. Five-star eventer Kitty King described it as a thorough test of foundations and fitness. BE90 and BE100 riders will tackle the approximately 3,000m track on May 6.
The Mars Badminton Horse Trials will award a record £125,000 to its 2026 winner, an increase of £7,400 from last year. The total prize pot stands at £451,500 for the five-star competition. Prize money for the top 20 finishers depends on the number of starters, with figures based on 80 participants.
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Eventer Sam Watson has suggested creating a new five-star pathway to address declining starter numbers at major events Mars Badminton and Defender Burghley.
Dassett Eventing has introduced four new leagues for young event horses, each offering a £1,500 prize pot. The initiative targets five- to eight-year-old horses competing in British Eventing fixtures this season. Prizes will go to the top three finishers in each age group.
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Twenty-nine horses passed the first trot-up at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event on April 22, marking the start of the five-star competition in Kentucky. No horses were referred to the holding box despite minor spooks from two entries. The cross-country course, designed by Derek di Grazia, features 28 fences over 6312 meters with an optimum time of 11 minutes 5 seconds.