The phenomenal Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo are a step closer to another five-star title as they remain at the top of the leaderboard following an action-packed day of cross-country. If you want a quick run down of the key stories, here is a quick review of the Mars Badminton Horse Trials 2026 cross-country results.
The reigning champions maintained their leading position, while some others who tackled Eric Winter’s five-star cross-country track came unstuck, prompting a reshuffle of the lower podium places ahead of Sunday’s second horse inspection and all-important final showjumping phase.
Badminton Horse Trials 2026 cross-country results: how the day unfolded
North Yorkshire rider Holly Richardson posted the first clear inside the time with Ballyneety Silver Service – while Caroline Powell walked away from a fall on the first of her two rides.
Before we move on to the rest of the news, here are the top five scores.
Sarah Bullimore’s home-bred Corimiro posted a round wise beyond his years as one of the youngest horses in the field.
A problem for Tiana Coudray resulted in her tumbling from her second place overnight, a Brit gained a long-awaited Badminton cross-country finish, and a US rider had a water mishap.
Will Rawlin’s assured performance has him on track for his best five-star finish to date – while Wills Oakden’s Keep It Cooley took away some valuable learnings.
The crowd was with Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo all the way as they stormed home clear 13 seconds inside the time, after being held before the start.
There was mixed fortunes for top names including Emily King, Laura Collett and Sam Watson.
Tim Price and Falco enjoyed a good round – despite Tim riding with a broken collarbone.
The Badminton Horse Trials cross-country phase came to a close with a surprise fall for world number one Harry Meade and the retirement of a former winner.
How to watch and listen to Badminton Horse Trials
To watch Badminton Horse Trials live or via catch up, including the trot-ups, from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world, you need a 2026 Badminton TV Pass. Badminton TV is once again powered by ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £22.99. Go to badminton-horse.tv to sign up. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. Also check out the Badminton app, which provides free live results and much more this year. Sign up for Badminton Plus membership for £4.99 to access the live Radio Badminton broadcast and receive exclusive offers from on-site exhibitors. Search for Badminton Horse Trials in your app store.
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To ensure you keep up to date with all the breaking news, behind the scenes insight, and the best of the action throughout Badminton Horse Trials with no limits on how much you can read, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website from as little as £1 a week. Sign up now. And don’t miss our bumper 28-page magazine report on Badminton, including in-depth analysis and exclusive comments from top names, in the issue of Horse & Hound dated 14 May.
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How to watch Badminton Horse Trials live from anywhere in the world
