Why don’t they space them out so the same horse-and-rider teams can compete in both? Apparently the conflict in dates goes back to at least the 1980s so why doesn’t the newer event change to halfway between the Spring one and Burghley?
I assume there’s a good reason. What is it?
Well, each are fit in to that country’s schedule, since most competitors are in that country. Plus, there is Luhmuhlen in the summer. Pau and now Fairhill in the fall. And team events in between (Aachen, Boekelo). And they’re different—Kentucky is softer than Badminton.
No one wants to run a 5* in July/ August? No horse needs to do more than two 5*s in a year?
Thanks. That makes sense. I’d just read an article saying it was rare for even a rider to win all three – with different horses – so thought about spreading the three out. Like the UK flat-racing Triple Crown. I didnt know about the other, European, competitions. The article called these three the Grand Slam.
Kentucky in July or August would NOT be good weather for a 5*.
I’m not certain if it still running, given that Rolex no longer sponsor Eventing, but there is an Eventing Grand Slam. Rolex sponsor a big financial bonus for a rider who wins three consecutive 5* at Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley. It doesn’t have to be on the same horse. It can be over two calendar years as Burghley is in the fall and the other two are in the spring. The challenge began in 1999. Pippa Funnell won it in 2003 and Micheal Jung in 2016.
Yes it’s still going and they do still sponsor, they just aren’t the title sponsor. Winner still gets a watch.
At the rate things are going, nowhere in this hemisphere is going to be good weather for a 5* in July or August.
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