Raising the game

Fourteen years after the grassroots championships moved to Badminton, Pippa Roome examines how they have developed and their place in the sport

- Pippa Roome

"BADMINTON prospect" is seen on numerous for sale ads - but over the past 14 years, we've become accustomed to checking whether this refers to an equine athlete destined for the five-star competition or the grassroots. Either will be worth their weight in sticky pound notes to the right rider.

The grassroots championships moved from Aston-le-Walls to Badminton for the 2010 event, giving the country's best BE90 and BE100 combinations a run at one of the most prestigious venues in Britain.

Hugh Thomas, then Badminton's event director, said: "To be able to host the championships for the grassroots riders alongside our international event will be quite a challenge but we very much look forward to making them feel part of our Badminton family."

The event was sponsored by Badminton's headline supporter Mitsubishi Motors - and was for a while rebranded the Mitsubishi Motors Cup, with winners given a car for a year - while more recently Voltaire Design has taken on the title sponsorship.

Event organiser Ollie Bush says that not a great deal has changed in terms of the layout, with the stables and first two phases across the road from the main site, and organisation. She modestly describes herself as a "minor cog in a big wheel" of the "united team effort" of the organisation.

The big change since that first running has been the timetable. In 2010, the grassroots cross-country took place alongside the first day of five-star (then four-star) dressage (on the Friday), causing consternation as some top horses were upset by whistles and galloping hooves.