Reflected glory for Harry Meade as he wins the Retraining of Racehorses Championship at Barbury
Harry Meade & Sparky's Reflection (Photo: Adam Dale)Wiltshire-based rider Harry Meade took the £2,000 first prize in the Retraining of Racehorses Championship at the St James's Place Barbury Internaitonal Horse Trials at the weekend.
Meade won with his versatile new ride, Sparky’s Reflection.
The bay gelding was originally trained over hurdles by Henrietta Knight, but has since had a varied career with his owner Amy Martin, including Pony Club, hunting, advanced eventing – and galloping along the Norfolk coast.
Harry Meade was very pleased at the way Sparky's Reflection performed: “Having come from Henrietta, he’s probably had as good a start as any eventer, and he’s been a real family horse with Amy."
“He might have been a lazy racehorse, but he’s a sweet, charming character and I’d like to see how far he can go in eventing.”
Zoe Wilkinson finished second on Craignure and racehorse trainers’ daughters Kristina Cook (Watergate) and Harriet Dickin (Tilt du Chatelier) came third and fourth.
The RoR Championship bowl presented by Alan King (Photo: Adam Dale)As Kristina Cook completed her clear showjumping round, she was clearly thrilled: "Wow - that feels like I've just won gold at the Olympics, Wally [Watergate] tried so hard, thoroughbreds are such a generous breed".
Ginny Howe led going into the final jumping phase on Creeslough, but the horse put in an abrupt stop at a fence on a slope.
The Retraining of Racehorse Eventing Championships is sponsored by RoR and the National Trainers Federation. The prizes were presented by Barbury's home jumps trainer, Alan King.
Retraining of Racehorses is the official charity for the welfare of former racehorses. It aims to raise funds from the British racing industry to help support charitable retraining and rehoming of retired racehorses.