IT’S either feast or famine at five-star level in the eventing calendar, with three such events - Adelaide, Kentucky and Badminton - taking place over as many consecutive weeks.
Horses of a lifetime are spread throughout these five-star rolls of honour - Ballaghmor Class, Colorado Blue, Headley Britannia, La Biosthetique Sam FBW, London 52, Lordships Graffalo, Paulank Brockagh, Ringwood Cockatoo, Supreme Rock, Vanir Kamira, Willingapark Clifford and Winsome Adante as a small sample.
Sandhills Briar will now surely rate as 22-year-old Oliver Barrett’s nomination after their historic Adelaide 5* win last weekend. Oliver’s father Craig previously won this class 14 years ago on Sandhills Brillaire (Staccato - Sandhills Glimmer, by Galveston xx) and the latest family win came courtesy of another home-bred Sandhills Briar (Christian - Sandhills Beetle, by Stirling Sprite).
Adelaide is the only five-star event in the Southern Hemisphere, a region that has produced some of the eventing world’s household names.
“Australia has a really proud history of eventing. I think it really started back in Rome in 1960 when Australia won two gold medals - team and individual. That set a foundation and brought eventing to the forefront.
“Growing up through Pony Club, we all just evented,” commented Sam Griffith, reflecting on the country’s strong eventing heritage. (See next week’s issue for Sam’s Horse of a Lifetime nominations).
“Some other nations, like if you’re on the continent, show jump or dressage. Whereas in Australia, we just all evented. Australia has a very big racehorse industry, so you could get some really good horses quite cheaply off the racetrack and take them eventing. Access to horses was also good on the back of the racehorse industry.”
In January, the Rio Olympian and 2014 Badminton CCI5* winning rider was announced by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) as its new High Performance Eventing Manager. Sam’s Irish-bred partner at two of those career highlights was Paulank Brockagh, bred by Frank and Paula Cullen, who take up the story.
Frank and Paula Cullen, the breeders of Paulank Brockagh \ Susan Finnerty
An absolute star
“I remember quite early on saying, ‘This horse may not be a superstar but she’s an out-and-out Badminton horse’. What I never took into full consideration at that stage was Paulank Brockagh’s heart and desire to be good. It was her temperament and how she would fight for you that made her an absolute star.”
“Riding cross-country, you could genuinely say that you could point her at a house and she’d try to jump it for you. She was just one of those horses. Another rider once pointed this out to me: quite often on a novice, on a young horse, you could feel whether you could point them at a really good fence, something like the Vicarage Vee and they would do it.
“Right from the novice stages, I could point her at difficult lines and she’d just jump it. She had that sort of belief in herself that she could do it. And she could.
“‘Brocks’ is certainly a ‘horse of a lifetime’. Not many breeders can boast of breeding a Badminton winner and Olympic medallist, and still have her back home 100 per cent sound. She has bred three foals and is now out of retirement, enjoying being in the dressage arena again,” said Paula, as the mare returned home to their Wicklow base after she retired.
“Much credit must go to all the riders who were involved in her life and, in particular, Sam, who brought her to the pinnacle of her eventing career. Breeders need their horses to be lucky enough to pass through the correct hands and riders... we are those lucky breeders!
“On a separate note, we are so pleased for Sam on his appointment as Ireland’s Eventing High Performance Manager, as is Brocks, his ‘wonder mare’, as christened by the Australian media!
“We wish Sam and the Irish eventing team every success in the coming months.”
Sam Griffiths (AUS) and Paulank Brockagh \ Nigel Goddard/KS Digital Photography
In short supply
Alongside the springtime and early summer five-stars, this year’s main focus is the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen (August 11th-23rd). Riders, from young Oliver Barrett to Ireland’s main hope, Austin O’Connor, will be bidding for selection.
Both have now won a five-star; Austin on his horse of a lifetime - Colorado Blue (Jaguar Mail - Rock Me Baby, by Rock King), bred at Mellon Stud in Co Limerick by Kate Jarvey.
That win came at Maryland International in 2023, bridging a 58-year gap since the previous Irish rider - Major Eddie Boylan with his Badminton winner Durlas Eile - won a five-star event.
The news last month that Maryland International was cancelled for this year, no Badminton waitlist and low numbers of entries at some five-star events, has sparked debate in eventing circles: are there enough true five-star horses?
Organisers of Maryland International have cited financial concerns, rather than low entry numbers, as the reason for the cancellation of the 2026 five-star event.
Maryland is one of two five-star events in North America. At the time of writing, there are 35 entries for this week’s Defender Kentucky CCI5* at Lexington, while Maryland attracted 46 starters in its first year.
Last year, when Swiss rider Felix Vogg won, the Maryland number had dropped to 25, even with the assistance of a grant programme for overseas riders.
Not only did Colorado Blue win Maryland two years ago, their good form continued last year when the pair were third at Badminton and runners-up at Burghley, adding to his horse of a lifetime status for his connections.
However, there’s no Colorado Blue outing at either Badminton or Kentucky this year. The grey was withdrawn, after what his team described as a “minor setback after his brilliant run in the Grantham Cup”, adding that they’re hopeful he’ll be back competing by the summer season.
The comparative scarcity of top-tier events and horsepower shows how few horses ever go on to achieve five-star success, but when they do, we see some megastars.
Austin O'Connor and Colorado Blue on their way to securing second place at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials 2025 \ Nigel Goddard
The GOAT
This year has seen a number of retirements and losses in the eventing world. In January, his team announced the retirement of Ballaghmor Class (Courage - Kilderry Place. Breeder: Noel Hickey).
A four-time winner at five-star level, he certainly ranks as rider Oliver Townend’s horse of a lifetime choice.
In February, the eventing world lost its Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) with the death of La Biosthetique Sam FBW (Stan The Man xx - Halla, by Heraldik xx. Breeder: Günter Seiter).
Aside from his considerable Olympic and European gold medal collection, Sam and Germany’s Michael Jung won both British five-stars: Burghley in 2015 and Badminton the following spring.
A third champion to previously feature in this series is the West Cork-bred Supreme Rock (TIH. Edmund Burke xx - Rineen Classic, by Bassompierre xx. Breeder: Lindy Nixon-Gray). This back-to-back Badminton champion won in 2002 and 2003 with Pippa Funnell.
Another Irish-bred winner during Badminton and Burghley’s long-format era is Star Appeal (TIH. I’m A Star - Omideen Model, by Carnival Night. Breeder: Michael McEvoy). He and Mary King won Badminton’s ‘millennium year’ event 26 years ago, four years after their Burghley victory.
20 years ago, we saw Headley Britannia (Jumbo - Alan’s Bambi xx, by Alanrod. Breeder: Mike Hounsell) win Burghley for Lucinda Fredericks and the pair then followed up at Badminton in 2007.
New Zealand’s Caroline Powell has also won both British five-stars, although on different Irish-bred horses: Lenamore (TIH. Sea Crest - Karinella, by Valiyar. Breeder: Helen and Ted Walshe), her 2010 Burghley winner and then won Badminton in 2024 with Greenacres Special Cavalier (Cavalier Royale - Greenacres Touch, by Touchdown. Breeder: Michael Callery).
Fellow Kiwi compatriot Andrew Nicholson recorded a rare treble of Burghley titles with Avebury (Jumbo - Bairn Free, by Bairn xx. Breeders: Rosemary and Mark Barlow).
Mary King, who announced her retirement after a stellar five-star career, on judging duty at Dublin \ Susan Finnerty
Half A Dozen
Then there’s Laura Collett’s horse of a lifetime candidate, the 2022 Badminton and 2023 Luhmühlen winner London 52 (HOLST. Landos - Vernante, by Quinar. Breeder: Ocke Riewerts).
Plus, their British teammates Ros Canter and the brilliant Lordships Graffalo (Grafenstolz TSF - Cornish Queen, by Rock King. Breeder: Pennie Wallace/Writtle College), a dual winner at both Badminton and Burghley. This pair head this year’s Badminton (May 6-10) entries.
And how about Vanir Kamira (Camiro de Haar Z - Fair Caledonian, by Dixi), certainly her self-confessed smalltime breeder Kate Stevens “once-in-a-lifetime” horse?
Another British five-star dual winner with Piggy March (Badminton in 2019, followed by Burghley in 2022, plus a host of placings at both), Kate retold the lovely anecdote in these pages about herself and Pennie Wallace, Lordships Graffalo’s breeder, meeting by chance ringside and the pair’s pride in watching ‘their’ horse compete.
Vanir Kamira is one of just five mares to have won Badminton since it began in 1949.
(Peggoty won the since-discontinued Little Badminton in 1960). The other four are Emily Little (1952), Bambi V (1954), Headley Britannia (2007) and the other Irish Sport Horse: Paulank ‘Brocks’ Brockagh (2014).
Paulank Brockagh’s win was also the stuff of dreams for her Wicklow breeders. “Her competition records at 5* are incredible, and of course, the icing on the cake was winning Badminton in 2014, followed by team bronze in Rio 2016, where she was pipped at the post for an individual bronze.
“As Sam said, ‘I’ve never ridden a horse that would try so hard’.”
Storm approaching
“Brocks is a horse of a lifetime,” Paula continued, “but we must not forget her dam Calendar Girl (Triggerero xx - Glendora), who bred a string of successful progeny including Paulank Kimble, Paulank Timaru, Paulank Kings River, Paulank Calla Lilly, Paulank Spink and Paulank Little King to name but a few.
“We have retained a number of the mares for breeding and many of their progeny have been exported to the US and elsewhere, because of their bloodlines.
“We still have Calendar Girl’s first foal Paulank Kimble, by Cruising. She’s now 32 and, like Brocks, was returned to us to retire, having show jumped internationally at 1.45m. She subsequently bred three foals for us, all exported to Italy, Denmark and the UK.”
What was winning Badminton like for Sam Griffiths?
“Brocks was a horse that just got better and better on the flat the more I did with her. She wasn’t a natural at dressage, but she also had a very good temperament and was very trainable,” said Sam, reliving the first day.
“I did a reasonable test, but I was pleased with her and for her. And then the cross country... it was a new course designer, and when we walked it, we went, ‘Wow, this is tough’.”
“In typical Badminton style, there was a lot of rain, so the ground was very heavy. On cross-country day, there was actually a storm approaching and I remember Portaloos blowing over in the wind and, as you were galloping along, you’d almost get pushed back by the wind.
Agria FEI Eventing European Championship Blenheim Palace 2025 Individual Gold Medalist Laura Collett (GBR) and London 52 \ FEI/Benjamin Clark
Childhood dream come true
“Again, it’s where I was lucky with my experience. The going was very holding and really deep. After about a minute into the cross-country, I literally went, ‘I’m just going to turn my watch off because I’m going to go as quick as I can, but I’m going to ride to feel, rather than to time’.
“That’s when her jumping really came to the fore, because of the going and how difficult the course was.”
Going into the final day, Sam and Paulank Brockagh, owned by himself, Dinah Posford and her daughter Jules Carter, lay in third place with the prospect of a top-three result.
“That was really surreal. I remember jumping, and afterwards, my great friend Chris Burton came up to me and said, “Oh, you’ve moved up a place. You’re at least going to be second now”.
“You’re waiting and waiting, you really don’t wish on other competitors going badly, but you suddenly hear the ‘Ooh!’ From the crowd and think ‘What’s happened?’ And then I remember, before the final rider had finished, my friend ran up, saying, ‘You’ve won it! You’ve won it!’”
“Then it all became quite a whirlwind, with presentations, media, and all that sort of stuff. You sort of couldn’t believe it because, you know, it’s sort of like a childhood dream to do that.”
Just as the same happened last weekend for compatriot Oliver Barrett.
By the numbers
22 - Oliver Barrett’s age. The youngest-ever Adelaide five-star winner
11 - Adelaide 5* finishers last weekend.
Seven - five-star events around the world: Adelaide in Australia, Badminton and Burghley in the U.K, Fair Hill and Kentucky in the USA, plus Luhmühlen and Pau on the continent.
Six - Irish-bred winners at Badminton since 2000: Star Appeal, Supreme Rock, Moonfleet, Paulank Brockagh, Vanir Kamira and Greenacres Special Cavalier.
Five - winners of Maryland CCI5*: On Cue and USA’s Boyd Martin (2021), Coup De Couer Dudevin and New Zealand’s Tim Price (2022), Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and Colorado Blue (2023), Great Britain’s Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class (2024) and Switzerland’s Felix Vogg and Cartania (2025).
Four - five-star events won by Ballaghmor Class: Burghley x 2, Kentucky (2021) and Maryland (2024).
Three - five-star wins at Badminton (2007), Burghley (2006) and Kentucky (2009) for Headley Britannia.
Two x two - Lordships Graffalo doubles at Badminton (2023, 2025) and Burghley (2024, 2025).
One - GOAT: La Biosthetique Sam.
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