Mark Todd marks his return to competition in Britain this weekend with two horses at the Osberton Horse Trials. After announcing his comeback earlier this year, the double Olympic Gold medallist is making a late bid for Olympic selection and has returned to Europe to complete the second leg of his qualification.
The Osberton Horse Trials start on Sunday and end on Monday May 5.
Todd will ride Gandalf, whom he brought from New Zealand, and Dusky Moon, owned by Eddie Stibbe, in the feature class at Osberton, the International CIC** as a warm up for his main aim, the Saumur Three Day Event later this month. He may return to Britain if Saumur is unsuccessful to ride at the Bramham International Three Day Event in Yorkshire in June.
The Osberton Orgainsers have been inundated with entries for this prestigious class with over 85 horse and rider combinations hoping to compete. Top British names including Jeanette Brakewell, Oliver Townend, Sharon Hunt, Gary Parsonage and reigning Junior European Champion Laura Collett will be joined by a strong overseas entry from Sweden's Dag Albert, Australian Brook Staples, Carlos Paro from Brazil as well as Kiwis Tim Price, Bruce Haskell and of course, "Toddy".
Nearly 450 entries have been received in total for the two days of competition where classes will include Novice, Intermediate, Open Intermediate including a section for Riders Under 21 sponsored by Bishop Burton College which will act as a trial for the Jump Savings British Young Rider Squad for this year's European Championships in Kreuth, Germany.
Set in acres of fantastic park and woodland surrounding Michael Foljambe's Osberton residence, the event has been running since 1969 and was a two-star level three-day-event for 20 years from 1977 until 1998 when it reverted back to the one day event it is today. Stuart Buntine's cross-country course makes use of the features of the park and retains a number of features used in the old three-day-event.
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