Equestrian: Todd's final Badminton tilt has its hurdles

LONDON - Three-time winner Mark Todd enters his final Badminton horse trials tomorrow with a mixture of sadness and relief.

The New Zealander will ride Olympic prospect Eye Spy.

After 21 years in top-class eventing, Todd is bowing out this year, widely rated as the greatest horseman the circuit has seen.

"I have had so many things on my mind. I'll just go there and concentrate on the competition," he said after arriving back from the Kentucky horse trials, where he fin-ished eighth.

"I have mixed feelings of relief and sadness, this being my last Badminton.

"It would be great to win again but realistically Eye Spy is not a winning chance.

"I will just see how he copes at a big four-star event like Badminton as a possibility for the Olympics later in the year."

Eye Spy has never competed at a four-star event and it is his first time at Badminton.

"I am hoping he will go well with a good performance. He is good over the cross-country. He's a good jumper and is a fast horse.

"He will never have seen crowds as there will be at Badminton, which often puts them off."

Todd first won at Badminton on Southern Comfort 20 years ago, then again on Horton Point in 1994 and Bertie Blunt four years ago.

Six-time Badminton winner Lucinda Green, of Britain, said Todd could not be discounted at Badminton.

"He can never be ignored. He has won Olympic gold medals.

"He is an extraordinary horseman, the likes of which we may never see again."

Green said she could not rule out New Zealand's world champion Blyth Tait from lifting his first Badminton title.

Tait won the Kentucky trials last weekend on Walton Envoy and has entered Chesterfield for Bad-minton.

"Tait is an amazing jockey. I saw him win everything at an event three weeks ago," Green said.

"There is absolutely nothing to rule him out at Badminton."

Chesterfield has not been to Badminton in the last few years.

Fellow New Zealander Andrew Nicholson has entered New York, who finished fifth last year, and will be in the hunt again this year.

British eventing magazine Horse and Hound has tipped Chesterfield and New York to finish in the top places of the 92 entries.

- NZPA