Belton and Burnham begin the Tri-Star Grand Slam

Chris Burton, who won the first leg of the Tri-Star Grand Slam at Belton in 2016, and Jeremy Lawton of Shearwater Insurance

 

An Eventful Life is filming all competitors on cross country at both Belton International and Burnham Market International

 

Launched last year with a 'winner takes all' prize fund of £50,000 for any rider who can win three of the five CIC3* events in the series, to date the Shearwater Insurance Tri-Star Grand Slam prize remains unclaimed.

Belton International provides the first chance for riders to get that all-important win in the bag with the next opportunity coming at the Barefoot Estates Burnham Market International two weeks later. The latter is a venue where Oliver Townend has taken the CIC3* prize an astonishing nine times in the last 10 years, and it was Oliver who came closest to securing the Tri-Star bonus last year with an additional win at Burgham.

However, victory in Belton International's top class, the Lycetts Grantham Cup, has eluded Oliver since 2011, and there are many serious contenders lining up this year among the 100 entrants, notably defending champion Christopher Burton along with Sir Mark Todd, Sam Griffiths and Bettina Hoy.

Shearwater Insurance, sponsor of the series, has been a long standing supporter of British Eventing. Jeremy Lawton, Managing Director, said, “We are thrilled to support the Shearwater Insurance Tri-Star Grand Slam again and can’t wait to see many of the top event riders out competing for the prize. We hope that this competition will continue to offer them something new and challenging to aim for.”

You can keep up to date on all the scores from the series here. For more information on any aspect of this year's Belton and Burnham Market International Horse Trials, and to book advance tickets, visit the Belton website for the former, and Musketeer website for the latter.

Belton International Horse Trials runs from 31st March - 2nd April 2017

Barefoot Estates Burnham Market International Horse Trials runs from 13th - 15th April 2017