Tom McEwen sets the bar high after day one at Badminton

Olympic silver medal combination Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser lead Badminton on the first day with a personal best score of 23.4 after a superb day of dressage for the brits

[Photo credit © Badminton Horse Trials Limited]

As the sun sets on the first day of Badminton 2022, the judges have already set us up for a thrilling competition with scores remarkably close near the top of the leader board. Sitting out in front overnight is Tom McEwen and his Olympic horse Toledo De Kerser, who performed a beautifully fluent and effortless looking test to achieve his best ever 5* score of 23.4 and the tenth best test performed at Badminton in the last 14 years.

Hot on Tom’s heels in second place is Kitty King and Vendredi Biats with an extremely impressive score of 24.8. Kitty’s test was expressive, and the judges awarded her with consistently high marks. Just 0.1 point behind is Mollie Summerland and Charly Van Ter Heiden, who made a remarkable entrance to their first ever Badminton. But they’re by no means inexperienced, the pair have a stellar record in the dressage phase and Mollie did not let the nerves get the better of her today.

In joint fifth place are Oliver Townend with Swallow Springs and 2019 Badminton winner, Piggy March with Vanir Kamira. Piggy will be thrilled to be sitting in the top five after her second ride, Brookfield Innocent, withdrew a few days before the competition with a minor injury.

Hoping to bag her first 5* win is reigning European Champion, Nicola Wilson, who’s sitting in ninth place overnight with her 5* debutant, J L Dublin, after a 26.5 test that left her with a big smile and in contention for the prize money. Dublin looked fit and ready to go for his first event at this level, with his exuberant extended canter giving the audience a glimpse of what to expect from him when he takes to the cross-country course on Saturday.

Fan favourite Ben Hobday gave a great performance on his ride Shadow Man with the judges giving him a respectable score of 30.7 and leaving him in thirteenth place overnight. Ben will be happy with his performance heading into cross-country and even more elated that his horse showed great potential, scoring plenty of 8’s.

It’s still all to play for with the second day of dressage kicking off at 9:30 Friday 5 May and we’re predicting a real battle for the top spots with the likes of Harry Meade and Laura Collett still to come. Plus second rides for Tom McEwen, Pippa Funnell, Ros Canter, William Fox-Pitt, and Oliver Townend, as well as lots of future stars making their first appearance at Badminton.

We can’t wait for another day of action ­– if you’re heading to Badminton over the weekend, why not head over to see us in the World of the Horse marquee?

Leader board:

1. Tom McEwen and Toledo De Kerser on 23.4
2. Kitty King and Vendredi Biats on 24.8
3. Mollie Summerland and Charly Van Ter Heiden on 24.9
4. Tamra Smith and Mai Baum on 25.3

=5 Oliver Townend and Swallow Springs on 25.7

=5 Piggy March and Vanir Kamira on 25.7

7. Amanda Pottinger and Just Kidding on 25.9
8. Ros Canter and Allstar B on 26.4
9. Nicola Wilson and J L Dublin on 26.5

=10 Pippa Funnell and Billy Walk On on 28.5

=10 Emily King and Valmy Biats on 28.5