May 8, 2025 
Two-time Olympic gold medal-winning eventers, they’re just like us!
Okay, maybe not just like us. But British rider Tom McEwen and his Paris Olympic mount JL Dublin did make very relatable mistake when they broke from the extended trot during Dressage Day 1 on Thursday, May 8 at the MARS Badminton Horse Trials. No matter.
McEwen and “Dubs” ended their first day of competition on a high score of 22.4, a lead of more than five penalties ahead of second-place finisher Emily King and Valmy Biats on 27.3. First-timer Tom Woodard, the field’s youngest rider at age 23, sits in third on 27.9 with Low Moor Lucky.
Meanwhile, another Badminton rookie—not to mention the reigning World Champion—Yasmin Ingham will sit in fourth overnight with Rehy DJ on 29.1. The morning’s leader, Oliver Townend, is fifth with yet another Olympic team gold medal-winning partner: his 18-year-old Tokyo mount, Ballaghmor Class (29.1).
“Dubs is a great personality and, thanks to my groom, Adam, he was so relaxed today,” Tom McEwen said after the class. “I was going for it and made that one mistake [when the horse broke in the extended trot], but I have done as much as I can today to stay ahead of Ros [Canter] tomorrow.
“He is an unbelievably talented horse and has pulled out performance after performance.”
McEwen isn’t wrong to have an eye on his Olympic teammate and 2023 European Champion Canter (GBR) and Lordships Graffalo. After calling the 2025 startlist “the strongest Badminton field since [their] records began in 2015,” Equiratings has further named Canter and Lordships Graffalo the pair most likely to take the overall title.
But they’re far from the only contenders still to enter the dressage arena.
The startlist on Day 2 includes not only Canter but highly ranked Equiratings picks including Gemma Stevens (GBR) and Jalapeno (Stevens sits in sixth place with her first mount, Chilli Knight), and Tim Price (NZL) with Vitali.
Still, if the top of the dressage leaderboard has proved anything so far at MARS Badminton, it’s that age is just a number. Not only are the morning’s leaders Townend and his senior Irish Sport Horse Ballaghmor Class well positioned going into cross country on Saturday, but the competition’s current third-place rider, Woodward, is also mounted on a ‘senior citizen’—and a sassy one at that.
Fellow 18-year-old Low Moor Lucky was Woodward’s first horse after the pony divisions, and the bay gelding wasn’t backed until he was nine. “Basically, he was in the last-chance saloon—he was pretty feral,” joked Woodward, adding that Low Moor Lucky didn’t compete his first event until he was 11.
“He doesn’t get wound up,” the British rider added, “and he goes back to his stable for a nap.”
The MARS Badminton Horse Trials returns on Friday for the second half of Dressage competition. You can stream live beginning at 4 a.m. EST on ClipMyHorse.TV or Badminton TV.
