PREPARATIONS for the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials always begin in the late summer of the previous year and now the build-up to the 2015 event is beginning to gather a pace.

After the thrills and spills of the 2014 event, course designer Giuseppe Della Chiesa will present the ultimate eventing challenge heading the opposite way round the Duke of Beaufort’s Park this year.

His debut last year featured a flowing, big and bold track that certainly caught the attention of riders and spectators alike, especially in the difficult weather conditions.

The reverse route presents different challenges over the terrain, so the 2015 running will almost feel like a second ‘first time’ for the Italian designer.

Badminton now runs from Wednesday, May 6, through to its jumping conclusion on Sunday, May 10, with the cross country nestled back into its familiar Saturday schedule.

Sam Griffiths will be looking to defend his title after winning for the first time last year.

In a thrilling finale to that competition, in which not a single horse finished their showjumping round penalty-free, Griffiths' one fence down was enough to give him his first crown.

He said: “When I was a little boy I used to wait for the tapes of Badminton to arrive in Australia so that I could sit down and watch them.

"I used to dream about riding there, so to win is the culmination of that dream."

Oliver Townend was the highest-placed Brit, climbing from fourth place overnight into second despite dislodging two rails on Armada.

This year the European Championships will be held at Blair Castle in Perthshire, Scotland, in September, so Badminton will be the proving ground for riders to stake their team places with their selectors.

Six days of competition start again with the ever-popular Mitsubishi Motors Grass Roots Championships before the event proper begins.

There will also be a new look to the massive trade stand area, which after external consultancy, is being ‘smartened up’ with screens hiding the ‘backroom’ workings of the shopping outlets, more conspicuous entrances to the village and better signposting.

Every year, Badminton has a dedicated charity, and this year it is Sense, which is the national charity campaigning for deafblind children – website: www.sense.org.uk.