Former racehorses going flat out for Yorkshire riders at top show

Three riders from Yorkshire have just heard the news that they will be competing at this most prestigious of events.

Two have qualified for the South Essex Insurance Brokers (SEIB) Racehorse to Riding Horse Championship and one for the SEIB Search for a Star Championship.

Jan Darwin, from Richmond, won the recent Racehorse to Riding Horse show class, held at Osbaldeston Riding Centre, riding Vicky and Bryan Smart’s horse, Rogers Revenge.

Zoe Hulme, 15, from Malton, took the runner-up spot to qualify with her mother Heather Hulme’s ex-racehorse, Goliaths Boy.

Amy Ball, 10, from Keighley, won the Search for a Star ponies class, also at Osbaldeston, riding her mother Jane’s show pony, Ddeunant Mischief Maker.

Jan Darwin runs a yard at Richmond Equestrian Centre and Rogers Revenge has been with her since February. Since then, Roger has qualified for the Royal International Horse Show as a lightweight hunter and has also qualified for the Retraining of Racehorses Hickstead final.

“Now all he has to do is qualify for HOYS as a hunter,” says Vicky, who works with her husband, racehorse trainer Bryan Smart.

“He just doesn’t settle on the yard with all the racehorses around in the summer and now that he is with Jan I can still be involved with him as he’s not too far away.

“We are quite fond of him as we bred him and Jan has done a brilliant job.”

The six-year old chestnut Goliaths Boy, known as Colin, was in training with Richard Fahey. He won two races on the Flat and won over £70,000 in prize money.

He came out of racing after being injured in 2010 and went to the Hulmes. After a break of 18months, he came back into work this year. “He really tries, loves his work and gets so upset if he gets it wrong. We will go for more ROR qualifiers for Hickstead this season,” said Heather.

For the first time this year, the HOYS Racehorse to Riding Horse champion will go forward for the HOYS Supreme Championship.

Amy Ball and Ddeunant Mischief Maker, known as Boss, qualified for HOYS in the show and show hunter pony class in the Search for a Star series, which gives amateur riders the chance to compete at the Horse of the Year Show.

The pure Welsh section B pony was bought unbacked for £500 at Clitheroe market.

“He was backed and brought on at home. We were going to produce him as a Mountain and Moorland but he moved so well he has now become a show pony,” said Jane. “This is our biggest success so we are absolutely delighted.”

Sponsors growing alongside Bramham

NOT only did William Fox-Pitt go home with the lion’s share of the prize money at the Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials, he also won an Equi-Trek Sonic horsebox.

Fox-Pitt won both the CCI and CIC three-star competitions, collecting a handy total of £6,000 in prize money. Next week, he will take delivery of the brand new horsebox which is his to use for a year.

Equi-Trek, based in Holmfirth, is the country’s largest manufacturer of horseboxes, ranging from side-loading trailers to six-wheeler HGV boxes. The family run business has been a supporter of Bramham for the past eight years and this year became the title sponsor.

When Equi-Trek first became involved at Bramham in 2004, they manufactured 125 horseboxes a year and employed six people. As the event has grown in stature in the intervening years, so has the company, now making 2,200 horseboxes a year and employing 150 people.

This year, Bramham took on more entries than ever before as it became a final selection trial for the Olympics.

Tom Janion, managing director of Equi-Trek, said they were very proud to be the sponsors of this year’s event.

He said: “We saw the title sponsorship as an opportunity to give something back to the sport we all love so much.”