WORLD number one Andrew Nicholson will head to this year’s Barbury Horse Trials looking to lay the foundations for success this summer – but he insists that preparation won’t stand in the way of his will to win.

The 51-year-old New Zealand veteran, who is based in nearby Marlborough, clinched both first and second-place in the CIC*** competition on Avebury and Quimbo respectively in 2012 and the seven-time Olympian is going for glory again when this year’s trials come around on July 4-7.

Nicholson, who was third at Badminton this year, is planning on using the trials to prepare his top rides for Burghley in September but retaining the Barbury crown remains his top priority.

“I’ll be bringing Avebury and Nereo, who are going to Burghley, and using it as a freshener-upper – it’s their first run-out since Badminton,” said Nicholson.

“But I can assure you that I want to win it. It’s good prize money and all my good horses have owners that want to win.

“I might tell them it’s a build-up competition but the horses won’t be coming half-prepared. They’ll be in the state that they should be able to win it if I do everything right.

“I’ve got two younger horses, which I think have a good future – a two-star horse called Tilikum and another seven-year-old called Teseo – so it’ll be part of their stepping stone to the future.

“Taking them there to experience the atmosphere is great education for them.

“I’ll probably be bringing three novices as well. Nereo won the novice class when he was five-years old and Quimbo, who was second here last year, won the two-star event when he was a young horse.

“The horses that have done well in the younger classes have gone on to be very good horses at the top level, so it shows that it’s the right place to educate them.”

Nicholson, who has lived in England since the 1980s, is also a keen supporter of his local event.

He said: “It’s very important that you support the local events and it’s a big bonus that it’s a very, very good one, which makes it pretty easy to support.

“Competing at Barbury is a privilege really, isn’t it?”

FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS, REPORTS & PICTURES SEE THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @gazsport