SWINDON-BASED Australian Paul Tapner is among a classy international field at the Badminton Horse Trials, which begin tomorrow, writes JANET PERRINS.

Tapner heads into the event having been in cracking form on Stormhill Michael, after winning at Burnham Market and taking second at Belton.

He will also ride his seasoned campaigner, Innothing, while another local rider, Kitty King, who will be looking to build on her good completion last year with Boondoggle.

Although Oliver Townend will not take part this year following his horrific fall at the Rolex Kentucky Horse Trials last week, but there will still be plenty of top performers on show.

William Fox-Pitt was the eventual winner at Kentucky on Cool Mountain, and he will be determined to add the Badminton crown to his collection, on either of his two mounts, Idalgo or Sea Cookie.

One who will attempt to knock Fox-Pitt off his pedestal will be Olympic bronze medallist and European championship winner Tina Cook on Miners Frolic.

Despite their successes, the combination has not yet tackled the Badminton track, but many are tipping the pair to win and their round is anticipated with much excitement.

Marlborough-based New Zealander Andrew Nicholson cannot be excluded from the list of potential winners, having won all three advanced sections at Weston Park recently. He will choose two rides from either Avebury, Armada or Nereo.

Director Hugh Thomas has set many challenges in a cross country challenge that is imposing in size and demands accurate riding. “I have gone for something quite old-fashioned, requiring a bit of control and a bit of uncertainty,” said Thomas.

“I like to build fences sometimes where riders aren’t quite sure what their horses are going to do.”

Badminton will this year open its gates to a new level of rider in the Grassroots BE90 and BE100 Championships.

The competitions will give riders at grassroots level the opportunity to compete on the hallowed turf.

Tapner’s wife Georgina is one of 170 riders competing, with the events taking place alongside the main competition.

She will be joined by fellow local riders Gill Horton, from Winterbourne Bassett, and Tina Myles, who is based just a few miles from the event.

Cross country day will take place on Sunday, May 2, for the first time this year.