Equestrianism: Fox-Pitt uses Atlantic crossing to aid Badminton challenge

Two events figure at the top of William Fox-Pitt's wish-list: he would dearly love to win the Badminton Horse Trials and he also fancies having an Olympic medal dangling from his neck.

The tall, 34-year-old three-day event rider, who was top of the world rankings last year, could achieve the first of these ambitions when he partners Tamarillo – "he's my big hope" – and Highland Lad at the great event in Gloucestershire this week. Tamarillo was runner-up at Badminton last year; Highland Lad surprised almost everyone, especially his rider, by winning at Burghley last year.

Instead of "fussing and worrying" over these two horses, Fox-Pitt elected to put the Atlantic between himself and his Badminton mounts by competing in the Kentucky three-day event in Lexington for the second year running. He rode Moon Man to finish third there after a tight all-British climax on Sunday, in which Pippa Funnell won on Primmore's Pride from Polly Stockton on Tangleman.

"Ideally you don't want to be away the week before Badminton, but it's best to look at it in a positive light," Fox-Pitt said. "Lexington does help to set the rider up for the cross-country at Badminton, otherwise you can come to it a little bit cold." Funnell, Stockton and Leslie Law, who finished fifth in Kentucky, will be hoping to be similarly "set up" as they also prepare to ride two horses apiece this week.

Fox-Pitt had regarded Tamarillo as his big hope for the future long before the rest of the eventing world caught on. "He's the first horse I've ridden who finds all three phases easy, he never has to struggle," he said. "The one problem I have with him is trying to get him to focus. He's one of life's players rather than a natural grafter, which makes him fantastic fun to ride – but he really does need to focus a little bit more."

Though completely different from his stable-companion, Highland Lad is not too hot on the concentration front either. "He's hypersensitive and very easily distracted, both visually and audibly," Fox-Pitt said. "But if he manages to control his nerves in the dressage as well as he did at Burghley, he could be in contention." Fortunately the 10-year-old gelding will do his dressage in the relative quiet of Thursday morning, whereas the fun-loving 11-year-old Tamarillo will perform in the seriously buzzy atmosphere of Friday afternoon. Both horses are reliable jumpers, which should stand them in good stead in Saturday's cross-country and Sunday's final show jumping.

As a student, Fox-Pitt evented through the years when he was reading French at London University – with valuable help from his mother, who got the horses fit – and then had the chance to ride the talented Chaka. "He was my first serious event horse, I thought I'd give it a go," he said. He won Burghley in 1994 on Chaka and came close to achieving that as yet unfulfilled ambition to win at Badminton the following spring, when the horse held the lead after the cross-country only to fail the final inspection.

Last year Fox-Pitt capitalised on his top place in the rankings – "It came in useful as it was my most important credential" – to land a new sponsor in Equissage, the equestrian arm of Niagara Health Care. He also has a new base in Dorset, from where he now masterminds his campaign that includes "a long on-going rivalry" with Funnell, which began when they were members of neighbouring branches of the Pony Club.

Last year these two gifted riders filled the top two places at Badminton, won by Funnell, and on the world rankings, first place to Fox-Pitt. Having won at Burghley, where Funnell was sixth, Fox-Pitt allowed himself a few dreams of avarice as he contemplated the $250,000 (£157,200) prize on offer in the Rolex Grand Slam to any rider achieving consecutive victories in the trio of four-star events: Burghley, Kentucky and Badminton. That challenge was passed to Funnell when she won in Kentucky, but Fox-Pitt will be keen to regain it – and collect the top reward of £37,500 – when the Badminton prizes are presented on Sunday. "Pippa and I always try to give each other a good run for our money," he said with a grin.