Barbury's JCB Champions Challenge pits Dickie Johnson's team against Sir Mark Todd's
2015: Jump jockey Richard Johnson leads from Harry Meade in Barbury's JCB Champions Challenge (Photo: Alan Dale)This year at the St. James's Place Barbury International Horse Trials (7-10 July) senior riders from the eventing and horseracing world will clash once again in the third renewal of the JCB Champions Challenge on Saturday, 9 July.
The race, run in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF), will feature a stellar line up of two teams of the world’s very best jump jockeys and eventers riding against each other over a specially designed course. Sir Mark Todd and Richard Johnson have been named as the two team captains.
Eager to defend their Champions Challenge crown for a third consecutive year, the jump jockeys will be led by the newly crowned champion jump jockey Richard ‘Dickie’ Johnson.
Dickie will be joined by a trio of current and former jump jockeys: 2015 Hennessy Gold Cup winner and stable jockey to Barbury's Alan King, Wayne Hutchinson, one of the most successful jockeys of the modern era Tom Scudamore. Completing the team will be John Francome MBE a former multiple champion jump jockey, who is also vice patron of the IJF.
Having been beaten by the narrowest of margins in the two previous years, the event riders have submitted a team comprised of speed and quality that includes two members of New Zealand's team for the 2016 Rio Games.
2015: Sir Mark Todd in Barbury's JCB Champions Challenge (Photo: Alan Dale)Sir Mark Todd, who will captain the eventers, and Jonelle Price, known as ‘the fastest rider cross-country’. They were both members of New Zealand’s Olympic bronze winning team at London 2012.
Jonelle's husband Tim joins her in the team. The couple made history in 2014 when they became the first husband and wife team to represent New Zealand at the World Equestrian Games in France.
Australian eventer, Paul Tapner, completes the eventers' challenge. He is a past winner of the Badminton Horse Trials and is renowned as a speed specialist in the cross-country phase.
The winning junior and senior teams from the inter-hunt relay, held on the same day, will form the final two teams in the JCB Champions Challenge.
Commenting ahead of this year's ‘Barbury battle’, Dickie Johnson said: “In the summer months, as jump jockeys we try to take things a bit easier – but not this year, myself, Hutchinson, Scudamore and Francome – are in serious training and can’t wait to lay down the gauntlet to the eventers.”
In response, Sir Mark Todd (who at 60 has become New Zealand's oldest ever Olympian) aimed a cheeky shot at the jump jockeys: “I may be advancing in years, but I am confident I can get one over on Francome – as he is even more advancing than me!”
A new addition at this year’s St.James’s Place Barbury International Horse Trials will be the third leg of the Event Rider Masters (ERM). The inaugural ERM is a new sporting series, showcasing the world’s best ‘Event’ riders with a total of £350,000 in prize money and each leg promising minimum prizes of £50,000 - and with television coverage which is being seen around the world.
Tickets for the Barbury International Horse Trials start from £12 per person per day booked in advance. Entrance is free for children under 12 years. There is more information on the Barbury website where you can book tickets - or call 01672 516125.