For someone who topped the British Eventing leaderboard as the rider with the most cross-country clears in 2025, experiencing two uncharacteristic falls with his top horse, Galileo Nieuwmoed, at both Badminton and Burghley could easily have been difficult to recover from.
But leading Wiltshire event rider David Doel is very...
Ros Canter and the stunning Lordship Graffalo claimed their second MARS Badminton Horse Trials title with a flawless round in the final showjumping phase, cementing the horse's status as one of the best eventers in the world. Canter now joins a select group of just five riders to have won...
The world’s greatest three-day event riders are eagerly anticipating the start of the 2025 Mars Badminton Horse Trials, which is just about to get underway (Wednesday 7 May).
The Barbury Castle estate saw a welcome return to British Eventing at the weekend with three days of competition, showcasing some of our top riders, including Laura Collett, David Doel, Tim and Jonelle Price, Tom McEwen to name just a few.
Badminton 2025 is nearly here, taking place in early May beytween 7 - 11th. One difference for this year - all tickets must be bought in advance as there won't be any tickets sold on the gate this year. There is the 'early bird' advance ticket discount available, but that...
New Zealander Caroline Powell pulled off a shock victory at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials at the weekend, after Tim Price and Vitali and William Fox Pitt and Grafennacht, who were in first and second respectively, had a number of fences down in the showjumping.
Will Rawlin describes himself as “absolutely fine” as he faces his first ever appearance at the Mars Badminton Horse Trials, which begin on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old first timer, based at Rockley, said he is not overthinking the competition, regarded by many in the sport as the pinnacle in the eventing calendar,...
David Doel’s past two seasons, with his star horse Galileo Nieuwmoed, are the stuff that most event riders can only dream of. A sixth place at his debut Badminton Horse Trials, eighth at Kentucky and runner up at Burghley are the highlights - but for him this is not quite...
Three former successful racehorses, stabled and trained now at Overton Manor Farm (and owned by the White family) in Wroughton have qualified for the Horse of the Year Show at Birmingham’s NEC in October.
Trained by the ladies who will be riding them, the three horses will be competing in the...
When Greta Mason drives through the famous Badminton gates for her debut appearance this week it will be a culmination of a three-year plan.
Greta and her 16.1hh gelding Cooley for Sure (Murphy) moved to base themselves with former Badminton winner Rodney Powell at his Bishopstone yard in 2020, with a...
It is not very often you see a troop of the Household Cavalry - in full ceremonial dress - moving calmly down a farm track in Lambourn. As it happens, they had just emerged from Lambourn Open Day's show ring and the hectic moves of their new musical ride.
Lambourn - village and valley - was packed with visitors for the 25th Open Day, all making the most of the brilliant Good Friday sunshine (March 25.) They came from far and wide - certainly from Swindon and from Birmingham. The crowd was estimated at 12,000.
In the morning they crowded into the twenty-six training yards that were open for the public. Notices reminded visitors that some horses bite and they should not feed or touch any of them - but for many that was a notice too far and horses got a good amount of touchy attention.
A lesson in progress at Dan Kubler's yardAlong the way they could have taken in a lesson in how the horse works from equine chiropractor Nicole Rossa. She had with her some 3-D graphics - co-operative as long as the hay lasted. Turn the horse round and Ms Rossa could show visitors a colour representation of its important muscles.
Oliver Sherwood's Rhonehurst yard was one of the most popular destinations. And there you could catch a glimpse of last year's Aintree Crabbie's Grand National winner Many Clouds - not to mention winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury and the Betbright Cup Chase at Cheltenham and all for an initial investment at the sales of six thousand Euros.
The crowds waiting for Many Clouds to emerge for a quick two circuits was immense. Many Clouds is a bit camera shy and photographers had to be alert to catch his quick glance out of his box - just making sure there was still a crowd there?
At the Sherwood yard Rayvin Black needed a minder - he's a bit 'spirited'Travelling Head Girl Lisa Kozak & Oliver SheroodMany Clouds led by Chris Jerdin - with fans
Oliver Sherwood explained that he did not want Many Clouds to get too wound up with only two weeks to go before his return to Aintree's Grand National course. But he relented and two circuits of the yard became three.
Also very popular was Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows yard - home to the come- back-kid Sprinter Sacre. Fresh from winning the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, he joined three Gold Cup winners for the afternoon's Parade of Equine heroes.
Before that parade, the show ground had all manner of food, trade and charity stands - and all manner of entertainments. A parade of the local hunt complete with some straying hounds, a display by lurchers from the distant north-east of England and the Shetland Grand National with jockeys not much taller than their mounts.
And, of course, the Household Cavalry. This was a newly designed musical ride by the troop made up of eight soldiers from the Life Guards and eight from the Blues and Royals - in the uniform and accoutrements they wear for state ceremonials and which they would once have fought. With them the drum horses and buglers.
The cavalry are coming...Wheeling together
They are accompanied by four riders dressed in the stable gear of the 1820s and performing skills like laying the horses down while the ride goes an around them. A rare and much appreciated sight - especially as they left the ring charging at the gallop.
Memories Galore - one of Harry Dunlop Racing's horses at Windsor House Stables3-year old colt Valitop at Jose Santos' yard - with friendLambourn Open Day raises money for the Lambourn Valley Housing trust - which provides homes for stable staff - and for other Lambourn charities.
There was a bit of commentator naughtiness when it was hinted that Victoria Pendleton herself might be taking part in the show jumping contest between teams of jockeys and soldiers of the Household Cavalry.
It turned out that Jamie Osbourne was wearing the silks of Pacha Du Polder's owner - the horse Ms Pendleton rode to fifth place in Cheltenham's St James's Place Foxhunter Chase.
However, it is unlikely that anybody minded much - there was plenty of ice cream to make up for any disappointment.
L to r: Erik Duvander, Jonelle Price, Sir Mark Todd, Jock Paget & Clarke JohnstoneThree of the four riders selected to represent New Zealand in the eventing competition at the Rio Olympic games are based in the Marlborough area.
The three named for the team on Monday morning (June 27) are: Sir Mark Todd (based at Badgsertown), Jonelle Price (Mildenhall), Jonathan Paget (near Burbage).
The fourth member of the team is Clarke Johnstone who is normally based in New Zealand. And another member of Marlborough's New Zealand equestrian community, Jonelle's husband Tim Price will be going to Rio as the team's 'fifth man' or 'travelling reserve'.
The New Zealand squad's coach and chef d'equipe, Erik Duvander told Marlborough.News: "It's our best team ever."
The team was announced in Hungerford by Lady Alexandra Smith, the wife of the current New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Lockwood Smith.
She also named New Zealand based Julie Brougham to represent her country in the dressage. It will be her first Olympic Games.
Each rider has two named horses, but only one will travel to Rio. The decision on which horse each rider takes will be made after the Barbury and Aachen competitions.
Sir Mark ToddAged 60, Sir Mark Todd becomes New Zealand's oldest ever Olympian. At the Los Angeles Games in 1984 he won the first of his two individual Olympic gold medals. Rio will be the seventh Olympics at which he has represented New Zealand.
But it will also be the tenth Games he has been involved in: he was selected for the 1980 Moscow Games which were then boycotted, in 1996 he was in the team but his horse went lame, and in 2004, while he was officially 'retired', he travelled as the team trainer. He is currently ranked third in the world.
His named horses are Leonidas II and Campino. Sir Mark rode the twelve year-old gelding Leonidas into fourth place at Badminton last year and again this year.
Jonelle Price As part of the New Zealand team, Jonelle Price won a bronze medal at the London Games - with Sir Mark and Jock Paget. She is currently at ninth place in the international rankings and came third at the recent second round of the new Event Rider Masters (ERM) event at Bramham. Her two named horses for Rio are Faerie Dianimo and Classic Moet.
She rode the eleven year-old dapple grey Faerie Dianimo - known as Maggie May - for the Bramham ERM leg and said afterwards she favoured her for Rio. Jonedlle is looking forward to Rio and does not think the climate will cause them any problems.
Clarke JohnstoneTwenty-nine year-old Clarke Johnstone is normally based in New Zealand. In 2012 he was in contention for the London Olympics but had to bow out when his horse was injured.
He came over to Britain in March for the Badminton CIC4* competition. And has stayed on at the Australian rider Christopher Burton's yard in Surrey so he could train with the New Zealand high performance squad. His horse Balmoral Sensation - a 12-year-old grey gelding - has eleven international wins to his credit.
Jock Paget Jonathon Paget - known to all as Jock - lives in Burbage and has a yard nearby. With Sir mark Todd and Jonelle Price he was part of New Zealand's Bronze Medal winning team at the London Olympics.
He left New Zealand in 2010 and - as the official biography says : "The quietly-spoken former bricklayer came from nowhere to finish seventh individual at the Alltech FEI World `Equestrian Games in 2010." For his horse to take to Rio, he will choosing between the 17-year-old Clifton Lush and 11-year-old Clifton Signature.
Travelling reserve Tim Price - currently ranked tenth in the world - has had bad luck this season with his favoured horse Wesko suffering a 'significant soft tissue injury' in April that took him out of competition for the year, he was unseated at Badminton and eliminated in the Rolex Kentucky.
Tim Price, who won Luhmühlen CCI4* in 2014, dropped a place from third to fourth at this year's 4* comeptition in Germany when he had a rail down on Ringwood Sky Boy. His listed horses for Rio are Ringwood Skyboy and Bango.
Most of the five members of the team will be competing at the St James's Place Barbury International Horse Trial (7-10 July.)
On Sunday (February 28) Sally Randell ran her first winner as a licensed trainer when the eight year-old bay gelding Goal won at Southwell in a two mile selling handicap hurdle. Goal is owned by Mark Hampson and was ridden by his daughter Brodie, who works for Sally Randell Racing.
Sally Randell became a licensed trainer in November - taking over Andy Turnell's Broad Hinton yard. Since then she has had plenty of placed horses, but the jump season's wet conditions have not favoured her horses.
Just a week ago Brodie Hampson had made headlines when she won the Royal Artillery Gold Cup at Sandown on her father's horse Jennys Surprise.
Jennys Surprise, Brodie, Mark & his wife Jan holding the Gold Cup with staff members at Prospect HospiceMark Hampson has cancer and when he was told was told he had thirty days to live, Brodie had promised him that before he died she would win a race in his colours.
Goal, who had not won a hurdle race since June 2013 and was well beaten on his last outing at Taunton, won the two mile handicap hurdle at Southwell by one and quarter lengths from a field of thirteen.
Now she has won two races in her father’s colours. Mark Hampson is currently a patient at the Prospect Hospice in Wroughton.
Sally and Brodie told Marlborough News Online they are delighted to get their first winner: "We started my training career seven years ago together in South Wales so I always hoped she would be steering home my first winner!"
"And fantastic to carry on the fairy tale for Mark Hampson and get another winner for him too - the first of many for such a young, dedicated and passionate team."
Brodie Hampson's other ride at Southwell was on Driftashore who came home seventh of the nine entries in a three mile handicap hurdle race. The race was won by Delgany Demon - trained by Neil King whose yard is just up on the downs from Broad Hinton - at Burderop near Barbury Castle.
Smad Place leads on Barbury's all-weather gallops (Feb 2014)LATER NEWS: It has been confirmd that Smad Place will run in the Timico Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival. Jockey Richard Johnson believes the grey has the ability to dominate his rivals. Smad Place is currently 12-1 with some bookmakers.
Smad Place has done it again. The tough grey, trained by Alan King at Barbury Castle, took the BetBright Trial Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday (January 30) with a twelve length win over Many Clouds. The race is seen as a trial for the Cheltenham Festival's Gold Cup.
Alan King notched up a treble of wins at Cheltenham on Saturday - with Yanworth and Annacttoy adding to his victories. And to cap that, the same afternoon brought him two wins at Doncaster - including a win for Ziga in the three mile Sky Bet Chase.
As the Racing Post headline over its full report on Cheltenham's trials races put it: "Bouyant King reigns supreme on trails day."
Nine-year-old Smad Place, owned by Mrs Peter Andrews, was leading the field when the Gold Cup favourite Djakadam, ridden by Ruby Walsh, fell at the tenth fence. It was Smad Place's third success in four outings and he was said to have "completed the task in fine style."
Smad Place's win leaves King with a tough decision. After he was beaten in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, the trainer had thought he would run in the Cheltenham Festival's Ryanair Chase.
Now the pressure is on for an entry for the 2016 the Gold Cup. In March last year Smad Place was eighth out of the eleven finishers in the Gold Cup.
Alan King When asked after the race whether Smad Place would go for the Gold Cup, King said: "Don't ask me that. I'm going to enjoy this afternoon. If I was confused before, I'm probably more confused now, but it doesn't make the Gold Cup less likely."
Smad Place's victory at the Cheltenham trials meeting was under Richard Johnson after his regular rider and King's stable jockey, Wayne Hutchinson, had to pull out with an injury. He fell at Doncaster on Friday injuring a foot - he is expected to be out of action for a few days.
Cheltenham reported big crowds for its trials meeting. But jump racing has been badly hit recently by the rain - and heavy conditions abound.
Fontwell was abandoned today (January 31.) Ayr's Monday (February 1) meeting has been abandoned. Parts of the course at Plumpton are said to be waterlogged with an inspection at 7.00am on Monday.
Tuesday's meeting at Lingfield has already been abandoned and Taunton - 'waterlogged in places' - also faces an inspection on Monday morning.
An urgent phonecall...On Thursday morning (April 28) at Mere Farm, up on the downs above Mildenhall, Jonelle Price was schooling Ringwood Sky Boy, the horse her husband Tim will be riding in next week's Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (May 4-8). Tim was asleep in Lexington, USA - or maybe just waking for the first day of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and getting Bango ready for the dressage.
The season has been going for a couple of months - somewhat interrupted by sodden courses and cancellations. "Now", says Jonelle, "with Badminton we start six weeks on the trot" - six weeks of hard work, hard riding and a lot of travelling.
At Badminton she will be riding the thirteen-year-old mare Classic Moet - known as Molly - they are fresh from a competition win at Belton Park International: "She's in great form."
The new challenge this season is the introduction of the Event Rider Masters (ERM) competition. This is a concerted effort to bring eventing into the twenty-first century, popularise it through television coverage, make it more exciting and provide bigger prize money.
The first of the six-leg competition is a fortnight away at the Dodson & Horrell Chatsworth International Horse Trials in Derbyshire (May 14 and 15.) Both Tim (currently at number three in the world rankings) and Jonelle (currently number 17) will be taking part.
The third leg of this ground-breaking competition will be at the St James's Place Barbury International Horse Trials (9-10 July) - up on the Marlborough Downs.
"It is", Jonelle told Marlborough.News, "slightly going away from the traditional sport as we know it. Eventing takes place at beautiful places, but it's stuck in the last century. This will target the television audience and make it more exciting."
The ERM cameramen have been at Mere Farm - and the result is the stylish Are You Ready?
Click on image to access promo
Warming to the prospect of ERM, she adds: "They're coming from a completely different angle - revolutionising the sport really. Television is the key thing."
Jonelle schooling Ringwood Sky BoyCompetitors will wear the same numbers throughout the competition: "That'll make it all easier to follow for new comers to the sport."
With just 40 riders (from ten nations) accepted for this new contest, the dressage will take place on day one, the show jumping in the morning of day two and the cross country in the afternoon of day two.
The bottom 20 competitors after the show jumping will ride the cross country stage in a randomly drawn order. But the top 20 will go in reverse order and the prize giving will take place at the finish line - none of that waiting around while they double check the figures and get everyone in the right place.
The ERM team have been brought together by Di Brunsden and five other people involved in the sport - and passionate about it. Di Brunsden is part-owner of Sir Mark Todd's horse Leonidas II and former director of JP Morgan.
Jonelle Price waits her dressage entry: how long will the top hat survive in the Event Rider Masters era?Also in the team is Alice Plunkett (of Channel 4 Racing) who is also Mrs Fox-Pitt - wife of champion British eventer William Fox-Pitt. They have tapped the business expertise of Christopher and Lisa Stone - Christopher Stone is an owner of event horses and CEO of Northgate Information Solutions.
The ERM team will be going hard to make a big impact on social media - building on the reputations of their top riders like William Fox-Pitt who has 60,000-plus Twitter followers and 50,000-plus Facebook fans.
Tim Price's challenge at Kentucky ended at the last obstacle in the cross country when he parted company with Bango. He had been at tenth place after the dressage. Next stop Badminton.
Badminton is the next stop too for Germany's Michael Jung. He won the Rolex Kentucky riding Fischerrocana FST - becoming only the second rider to win this four-star event on the same horse in consecutive years. He returned an uncatchable 13.3-point lead.
If Jung wins Badminton this week, he will become only the second rider to win the lucrative Rolex Grand Slam with its $350,000 prize. Britain's Pippa Funnell is the only previous winner of the Grand Slam, - in 2002-03.
FOOTNOTE: Jonelle says that Wesko has started his rehabilitation from the injury that took him out of contention for Rio: "He will be back next year." Wesko has had three top placings in four-star competitions.
His injury is a blow for the New Zealand Olympic team. Last month Tim Price told Eventing Nation: "I think Wesko has Rio written all over him. I've felt it since he sort of came of age. He's proved himself at the four-star level and is finding that job easier." He said then his number two horse for Rio would be Bango.
Nicholson getting fit under the watchful eyes of AP McCoy (photo: Channel 4 Racing)It will be the sixth year the Cheltenham Festival has run its charity race - the St Patrick's Derby that closes the card on the Festival's Thursday - March 12 this year. Lockeridge based event rider, Andrew Nicholson will be one of the selected entrants raising money for the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF).
It is a flat race for amateur riders who can raise the £5,000 in sponsorship. And their horses must have run twice under rules.
Nicholson will be riding the Nigel Twiston-Davies trained Golden Jubilee - a six year-old that has won five times on the flat. Nicholson has been getting his weight down and training hard - including a session under the eagle eye of champion jump jockey AP McCoy at the IJF headquarters at Lambourn.
A former stalwart of the New Zealand eventing team, Andrew Nicholson, told Cotswold Life: “I will be as competitive as I can be but it’s the horse that has to run the mile and a half and lug me up the hill. As long as I do my job right and not make a fool of myself I will be happy and if I have got a horse that can really gallop who knows?"
Phil Clark being interviewed by a Racing UK colleagueHe will face some seasoned competition. The competitors include Clifford Baker who is head lad at Paul Nicholls' yard and Phil Clark the long-standing cameraman for the Racing UK television service and who has probably watched more races more closely than many of the other riders.
The Injured Jockeys Fund was established in 1964 by Lord Oaksey, after the devastating accidents to jockeys Tim Brookshaw and Paddy Farrell. The fund supports jockeys with career ending injuries and does amazing rehabilitation work - notably at its Lambourn headquarters - for many other riders injured in racing and other equestrian sports.
The choice of the IJT to benefit from this year's race is particularly significant as it was on the Thursday of the 2013 Festival that jockey J T McNamara had a terrible fall that left him paralysed.
Also taking part is Olive Murphy, a senior cabin crew member with Aer Lingus. She held an amateur licence in Ireland from 1993 to 1996 and is a lifelong friend of McNamara.
The youngest of this year's twelve riders is Thomas Williams - a student at Loughborough University and a pupil assistant trainer with Violet Jordan.
Andrew Nicholson will not be asking you to back him to win the race, but he does want you to sponsor him at his Just Giving site.
Rosettes galore - (l to r): Georgia King, Lily Jump, Holly StephensThe St John’s Academy National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA) teams did well last weekend (May 14/15) at the Mini, Junior and Senior Inter-Schools competitions held at Stonor School near Melksham.
They came well up the NSEA competitions both as teams and as individuals - and won a hard fought for team trophy.
These competitions involve all three eventing disciplines on a single day - held under the guidelines of the British Eventing Rules for 2016.
St John's riders have had a good few weeks. They won at the West Wiltshire NSEA Jumping and Style event on April 24. This victory means they have qualified for the national championships in October.
And on May 1 they came second at the Swalcliffe Park Equestrian One Day Event - photo below.
At Stonor the competitions attracted teams from Marlborough College, Cheltenham Ladies College, Cheltenham College, Westonbirt, St Mary's, Calne, Dauntsey's, St John's Academy - and several Stonor teams.
On Saturday, Georgia King, Daisy Down, Evie Baggaley and Flossie Lloyd Jones had brilliant rounds in Class 1 (85cm). Their rounds gained the team fifth place - with Georgia King taking first place in the individual results
St John's team ready to start - (l to r): Georgia King, Lily Jump, Holly Stephens On Sunday, St John's Imogen Thompson was the school's only individual entry for the 75m class. However, after a winning dressage score, she had a nasty fall in the cross country. Both rider and pony are fine.
Later on Sunday afternoon, the St John's Pink Team were ready for the 90/95cm class. Georgia King was riding Mojo IV, Holly Stephens on Joey and Lily Jump on Chilli Pepper.
They all had excellent rounds and won the class. The individual rankings saw Georgia King gaining third place, Lily Jump fifth and Holly Stephens seventh.
The trophy is currently being engraved and the girls will then present it to the school - a good addition to its trophy cupboard.
It was a successful day's eventing. As one Mum put it: "Everyone was courteous, well turned and did St John's proud."Success at Swalcliffe - (l to r) Georgia King, Holly Stephens, Hannah Hall & Lily Jump
Riding down to the start (photo by kind permission of Betfair)Victoria Pendleton - the 'golden girl' of British cycling - started riding just nineteen weeks ago and at Newbury Racecourse on Thursday evening (July 2) she took part in a charity race - her first outing in public. The flat race, The George Frewer Celebration Sweepstake over one mile and five furlongs, was the first on the evening card raising funds for the Key4Life charity.
She said afterwards that she was thrilled with her first ride in a race. She finished eighth in a field of eleven on the eight year-old bay gelding Mighty Mambo - trained by Lawney Hill at her Oxfordshire yard and for whom Victoria is now riding out.
As one seasoned racing correspondent put it: "Few novice riders would even begin to contemplate anything like a public race and fewer still would have sustained such enthusiasm in the face of the inevitable tumbles and petty humiliations that horses deliver." (Chris Cook, The Guardian.)
The walk from the weighing room: Victoria and Charlotte PlunkettPendleton and Mighty Mambo got away rather slowly from the start. But she made some late progress: "I gave him too much to do. There's a really long straight here and I thought some horses would blow out so I wanted to bide my time. It was over too quickly. I wish I could do it again."
The charity race was won by Oratorio's Joy trained by Mr J.A.Osborne and ridden by Maisie Turner, with Charlotte Plunkett (Barbury trainer Alan King's PA) second on Uriah Heap - trained by her boss.
Safely on board - watched by Alan King (at right) The age range of the riders taking part in the charity race was staggering. The youngest was Jacob Jelfs (aged 20) - he rides out for trainer Charlie Hills. And the oldest was Sir Mark Todd (aged 59) New Zealand eventing star based just over the Marlborough Downs at Badgerstown. He almost certainly has more Olympic medals than Ms Pendleton.
The challenge to Victoria Pendleton from Betfair proved to be one she could not refuse. It was not just a challenge to switch from bicycle to horse, but to become a race jockey.
Once she had retired from competitive cycling after the London Olympics, she had been looking for a challenge - perhaps a challenge a little more atuned to her skills and love of speed than Strictly Come Dancing. Betfair provide it: they wanted to find "an unexpected and entertaining perspective on horse racing, while also profiling the skills, athleticism and courage faced by jockeys every day."
Training is hard work: riding out (Betfair photo) Victoria & AP McCoyBetfair assembled a team of experts to make sure Victoria could reach their ambitious target. The team included chef d'equipe of the British eventing team, Yogi Breisner, trainer Lawney Hill, para-dressage rider Tamsin Addison, champion trainer and Betfair ambassador Paul Nichols. Oh, and she had some words of wisdom from another retired champion - AP McCoy.
At 34-years-old, Victoria had been riding bicycles since she was three-years-old and had only had the occasional holiday pony ride. Her record made her Britain's most successful woman Olympic athlete, so she certainly knows about the hard work and dedication the change of saddles would involve.
[To enlarge click on image]The Betfair challenge aims to get Victoria ready to take part in the Foxhunters Amateur Chase at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. On the way she will have more charity races before she goes to the British Racing School to see whether she qualifies for an amateur's licence. And before the end of 2015 she hopes to be able to have some point-to-point rides.
Betfair's Mark Ody, is more than hopeful she will make the Cheltenham race: "With Victoria's Olympic pedigree, our support network, a lot of hard work, we're all hugely confident that we'll be cheering Victoria on in the Foxhunters Amateur at Cheltenham Festival 2016."
The George Frewer Charity Race at Newbury (sponsored by the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation) was in memory of George Frewer, who died in a freak accident on what would have been his 17th birthday. His passion was horse racing. To date over of £450,000 has been raised in his memory.
Carruthers (No 3) takes a fence in his strideOld timers and new young - some very young - talents were the centre of attention at the annual and very well attended Tedworth Hunt Point-to-Point at the Barbury Racecourse on Sunday (April 10.)
Many horses race at point-to-points at the start of their careers, some others take to point-to-pointing towards the end of their careers. One of the latter was Carruthers - entered for the feature race of the afternoon The JM Finn & Co Tedworth Gold Cup Mixed Open race.
The talk around the bookies was whether Carruthers would repeat his victory at the Hackwood Park point-to-point on Easter Monday. There he gave jockey Lily Bradstock her first race win with an impeccable show of jumping in the Ladies Open.
The thirteen-year-old Carruthers is most famous for his startling victory for trainer Mark Bradstock in the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury - coming home three-and-three-quarter lengths ahead of the much more highly rated Planet of Sound.
On his last but one outing under rules he won again at Newbury in March last year. Nico de Boinville rode him to beat the David Pipe trained Amigo by a neck - for the £12,500 prize. His total winnings under rules were £327,631.
All eyes on Carruthers Mark Bradstock Sara Bradstock & Lady Oaksey
Carruthers was bred by the late Lord Oaksey and is now trained by Lord Oaksey's daughter Sara Bradstock - mother of Lily who is rider and travelling head girl for her parents, trainers Mark and Sara Bradstock. Connections indeed!
Carruthers looked a dream. But the dream did not come true. Although he jumped gallantly and safely, he was beaten into third place - it was, however, a very exciting race with the eventual winner coming from behind with a strong run home.
Carruthers in the mixLily Bradstock after the race Tedworth Gold Cup winner Sarah Rippon
The race winner was another thirteen-year-old, Good Egg ridden by his part owner Sarah Rippon who also trains him.
Perhaps Carruthers did not think much of the state of the ground. The going on the Barbury course was officially described as 'good to soft' - though one owner thought that was an under-estimate and the ground was decidedly on the tacky side. He did, however, admit that it was drying out all the time.
And so it should have been. For most of the afternoon as icy wind swept across the Marlborough Downs - the type of wind that thinks it has come straight from Siberia. But the rain held off and there was even a brief show of sunshine.
Keyflow's Managing Director Cam Price with assembled pony race jockeysAt the Bradstock training yard Carruthers has been treated for some wear and tear a front fetlock with the Keyflow product BoneKare - a vet prescribed supplement that provides vitamin K. The Marlborough-based feed and supplement provider Keyflow is now a sponsor of the yard.
And - connections, connections - Keyflow were the sponsors of the Tedworth's three pony races that preceded the six point-to-point races and a charity race. Pony racing over flat courses is now seen as a really good training ground for young jockeys.
In Britain and Ireland it has become an established part of horseracing and here it even has its own Authority. Organised by Jonathan & Sarah Geake the three races were for various ages between 10 and 15, over differing distances and for ponies of differing sizes.
There were two cups to win - the Stableware Cup (for 13.2 over four-and-a-half furlongs) and two races for the Sedgley Perpetual Challenge Cup (for 14.2 over one mile and two furlongs.) The races were fast and furious - there were rosettes all round.
Pony race jockey Alfie Godfrey (aged 10)Young fans watching the pony racing Race winner Poppy Scott (aged 12)
And for the very young there were other sorts of rides (Click on photos to enlarge them)
It is not very often you see a troop of the Household Cavalry - in full ceremonial dress - moving calmly down a farm track in Lambourn. As it happens, they had just emerged from Lambourn Open Day's show ring and the hectic moves of their new musical ride.
A lesson in progress at Dan Kubler's yardAlong the way they could have taken in a lesson in how the horse works from equine chiropractor Nicole Rossa. She had with her some 3-D graphics - co-operative as long as the hay lasted. Turn the horse round and Ms Rossa could show visitors a colour representation of its important muscles.
At the Sherwood yard Rayvin Black needed a minder - he's a bit 'spirited'
Travelling Head Girl Lisa Kozak & Oliver Sherood
Many Clouds led by Chris Jerdin - with fans 
The cavalry are coming...
Wheeling together
Memories Galore - one of Harry Dunlop Racing's horses at Windsor House Stables
3-year old colt Valitop at Jose Santos' yard - with friendLambourn Open Day raises money for the Lambourn Valley Housing trust - which provides homes for stable staff - and for other Lambourn charities.
![[To enlarge click on image]](/cache/9/a9e7c1d254d84350fa051b71b96690bc.jpg)
