‘It means everything’: Olympian who came off waitlist at 11th hour completes first five-star at Badminton

A little over a week ago, Brazilian event rider Rafael Losano was still waiting to hear whether he would get to run at Mars Badminton Horse Trials.

Today, the 27-year-old Olympian ticked off his five-star and Badminton debut by completing with Withington – a 14-year-old British-bred gelding, by Wolkenderry.

“If you told me that I was gonna get to this result early on in the week, I would definitely take it,” said Rafael, who owns Withington with Helen Tayton-Martin and James Noble.

“It means everything. I remember when I came over to the UK 10 years ago… if you told me then that in 10 years time I was going to be here, completing on a pretty solid three days, I don’t think I would have believed it, because we have climbed a long, long ladder.”

This pair have solid championship form – making the step up to five-star is another rung on that career ladder and an exciting indicator towards what this pair could go on to achieve in future.

They were 27th with a cross-country jumping clear at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished ninth individually and helped the Brazilian side to team bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games. They also have consistent form at four-star.

“Withington has been beautifully produced by Sam Ecroyd, whose mother bred him,” said Rafael.

“We only bought him less than two years ago, so it has been a very quick progress. But we really got on very well together and there are more exciting times to come.”

The road to Badminton for Rafael Losano

The Wiltshire-based rider grew up on a farm in Sao Paolo, in a village called Rio Claro.

“I always rode as a little kid. My granddad is a farmer and then I got into showjumping and barrel racing,” he said, adding he loved the “pure adrenaline”.

It was suggested to Rafael that he try eventing, and the rest is history. He met Sir Mark Todd who was teaching the Brazilian eventing team at the time, and at the age of 17, flew with his horse to the US to spend a few months with Clayton Fredericks.

Later that year, Rafael travelled to the UK to Mark’s farm and based himself at Badgerstown. He is now located at Mere Park Farm with wife, Amanda, who rides for Sweden, and trains with William Fox-Pitt.

Withington earned a score of 34 in the first phase, before jumping clear across country with 22.8 time-penalites and rolling three rails on the final day.

“He’s a good jumper, but he’s never jumped after going round 12 minutes and jumping such a good round yesterday. I’m just delighted with him,” Rafael said.

How to watch Badminton Horse Trials

If you want to watch the live action from Badminton Horse Trials from the comfort of your home, wherever you are in the world, you will need to subscribe to Badminton TV. This year, Badminton TV has teamed up with ClipMyHorse.TV, but you do not need a full ClipMyHorse.TV subscription to watch Badminton – you can just subscribe to Badminton TV for £21.99. Go to clipmyhorse.tv/en_GB/badminton to subscribe or to activate your account as an existing Badminton TV subscriber. If you are already a ClipMyHorse.TV premium member, Badminton TV is included in your subscription. As part of Badminton TV, you can enjoy the documentary programme Legends and Legacy, a fly-on-the-wall insight into the 2024 event and preview of 2025.

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