'Plenty to get your teeth into'

This year's Badminton track is testing, but fair, says Nicola Wilson, the 2021 European champion who finished in the top 10 at this five-star four times

I THINK this is a fantastic track. It features a lot of the iconic Badminton fences and the flow works really well. There are some nice fences to get horses and riders into their rhythm, and the early combinations set them up for the first intense question at Huntsman's Close.

The course is reversed this year - this gives competitors more time on the flat, which will help them settle into a rhythm.

The way designer Eric Winter has shaped the course, with more fences in the Vicarage Vee area and missing out the staircase, means that riders will probably not be turning as much towards the end of the course.

Hopefully, that will be in horses' favour, without taking away the complexity and intensity of the questions.

I've given one nine out of 10 rating, for the LeMieux Eyelash Brushes. Before horses get to part a, they will see the whole picture, making it clear for them. It's only once you get over the ditch, you realise how intense that angle is to the final element, which took me a little by surprise.

There isn't much wiggle room if horses were to jump off their line or paddle over the ditch, so riders need to make sure they stay true to the line and then they will sail over the final element.

I remember during the early years I came here, in the long-format days, riding up Worcester Avenue on the roads and tracks and seeing the house in the distance and a sea of people. You would hear the noise of the crowds getting louder as you rode closer. It was magnificent.

I've been very fortunate to have some wonderful rides at Badminton on many horses. My first was at the event's 50th anniversary year on Mr Bumble when I was just out of young riders. I didn't realise The Lake was built up at one end - I thought I was all right with the turn I was making, then we disappeared with a splash.