Zara Phillips, the world and European three-day event champion, will head one of the highest-calibre fields of recent years for the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, which take place from May 3-6. Last year, top riders were excused Badminton to save their horses for the World Championships.

Speaking from Stow-in-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, where his riders are having their first training session of the year, Yogi Breisner, the Great Britain team trainer, said:

“Olympic qualification is my main aim for the first half of the season and if riders qualify at Badminton we get that hurdle out of the way early.”

In a change of policy, no team places for the European Championships in Italy in September will be announced until after Badminton. ““It’s better if riders have to compete for their places — it keeps them sharp,” Breisner said.

Phillips hopes to make her Badminton debut on Toytown, her world champion, alongside her 2006 world silver medal-winning team members William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Daisy Dick. Phillips said: “A year ago I was close to giving up — everything was going wrong. Now I’m looking forward to it all. I feel much better and more confident.”

But for Pippa Funnell, the dual European champion whose mantle Phillips has inherited, there is relief in a lowering of expectations. With Ensign her only top horse — and she has yet to decide whether he runs at Badminton — she confided yesterday that her main enjoyment comes from bringing on young horses.

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