STOURPORT-on-Severn based Irish international Austin O'Connor will be heading to Badminton in Gloucestershire this week to take on one of the world's greatest sporting challenges.

The 32-year-old will be in action at the 2007 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Three-day Event - one of just four top four-star competitions to be held world-wide and the one every eventer would love to win.

Austin, who originally hails from Co. Cork and is now married to Austrian event rider Kathrin Wallner, will ride the 16.2hh chestnut Hobby Du Mee for owners Sue and Eddie Davies.

The 12-year-old horse will be making his Badminton debut but Austin, who was 17th at the Sydney Olympics and has been riding since he was two years old, has certainly proved his four-star capabilities.

His best Badminton performance came in 1999, when he finished fourth on Simply Rhett, and he made the top 20 at Burghley in 2002 on Horseware Fabio.

He has been in good form with Hobby De Mee this season, although the pair missed their last planned outing at the Ballindenisk CIC*** (international one-day event) in Ireland recently when the ground proved too hard to risk running the horse cross country.

"He was fourth at Witton Castle one-day event and 11th at the Burnham Market CIC*** in England, which is enough for him, and everything has gone according to plan," said O'Connor.

He did complete the two star CIC at Ballindenisk on the nine-year-old mare Lily the West, who he rides for Kate Jarvey.

The pair were in brilliant form and finished second after jumping a smooth double clear.

"Lily of the West is a lovely mare and she started with a lovely dressage test at Ballindenisk. She went really well cross country but I didn't take her too quickly as the ground was hard," added O'Connor.

"The course was very good. The road crossing, where you jumped onto a road and up a bank, caused some problems, as did a sharp turn right to an arrowhead.

"The mare's record is very good and she looks the business."

O'Connor will get his Badminton challenge under way tomorrow, the first of two days of dressage, and will then tackle Hugh Thomas's famous cross-country course on Saturday, with the final show jumping phase on Sunday.