AHEAD of the 2026 MARS Badminton Horse Trials, there was a chance that Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo could make history by becoming the first combination to win the CCI5* three times. As the weekend unfolded, it looked less like a chance than a foregone conclusion, as the pairing excelled in every phase, putting in an apparently effortless performance to win by a margin of more that eight penalties on a final score of 25.7. This feat seems all the more incredible in light of the fact that Canter gave birth to her second child less than four months previously, and that Lordships Graffalo was also second here on his first attempt, making it four from four podium placings at Badminton for them.

Canter and Graffalo established their lead in the dressage phase, when the Ground Jury of Christina Klingspor, Angela Tucker and Amanda Miller awarded them a score of 23.7, over four marks ahead of the Thursday night leaders Tiana Coudray and Cancaras Girl. A clear round inside the time on Saturday, when Coudray stopped at the cottage on top of the bank and incurred further penalties for activating a frangible device, extended their lead, and gave them a comfortable margin in which to produce a precisely ridden clear show jumping round, just five seconds over the time allowed.

Tim Price climbed steadily up the leader board with Sue Benson’s Falco over the course of the competition to finish in the runner-up slot. They started their campaign with a dressage score of 33.9, perhaps higher than expected from a combination whose personal best at the level is 22.1. Finishing 10 seconds over the optimum time on Saturday helped them rise to equal fifth, a position they shared with Ireland’s Lucy Latta, before one of only two clear rounds inside the time in the show jumping phase helped them climb again to eventual second.

Harry Meade finished third with the Irish Sport Horse Annaghmore Valoner, a former ride of Horse Sport Ireland’s eventing high performance manager Sam Griffiths, while Tom Jackson rose from 20th after dressage to eventual fourth with the Hannoverian gelding United 36, adding only time faults to his dressage score. Katie Magee and Treworra finished inside the time in both jumping phases, albeit with a pole on the ground in the show jumping, to claim fifth, a feat only matched by Gaspard Maksud and the Ballindenisk CCI4*-S winner Zaragoza in seventh. Sixth went to New Zealand’s Tayla Mason and her home-bred Centennial.