David Trott, riding his own and Derek Franklin’s ex racehorse Theme Park have won the 2010 South Essex Insurance Brokers (SEIB) and Retraining of Racehorses’ (ROR) Elite Performance Award for Dressage.
Runner up is last years’ winner Ann Bostock with her own horse Bold Hunter. The awards and a valuable cash prize were collected during a memorable evening at the Breeders Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Grange Hotel in London on the 8th January. ROR and SEIB are working together to encourage and recognise the success of ex-racehorses in other disciplines and the Elite Performance Awards offer a very valuable prize fund of £30,000 donated by ROR.
In his racing career, Theme Park ran a total of ten times, on the flat and over jumps. He was purchased from Ascot Sales as a five year old, by the TP Club syndicate for David to train for Point to Points. After a heavy fall in a Hunter Chase in May 2008 it was decided to retire him from racing. Theme Park took part in his first dressage competition in May 2009. This season he has progressed to Medium level at which he is unbeaten earning a total of 160 British Dressage Points to date. David hopes to compete him at Prix St Georges level next year. The TP Club are still keen followers of Theme Park and several of them attended the Awards Dinner.
Theme Park regularly canters with racehorses and hunts with either the Grafton or the Bicester, “he can get quite excitable in the box but once he’s out is brilliantly behaved and even completes gate shutting duty” said David.
Runner up Bold Hunter, began racing on the flat and over jumps as a two year old and has had 92 starts in all. Ann and husband Ian bought him as a 10 year old, whereupon Ian point to pointed him for three seasons. Anne a listed dressage judge then started riding him and discovered he had a natural talent for dressage. He is now competing at Medium level. He has also qualified for the Elementary Regional Finals. Ann is helped by her trainer, International dressage judge and rider, Judy Harvey, and the services of her excellent farrier Malcolm Woodward help keep Bold Hunter’s feet in good condition. “He has to have special shoes from America so he can continue to hunt through the winter. – He really is a brilliant example of the versatile nature of the thoroughbred horse”. Said Ann. “We have no sand arena at home so he has to do all his training in a slopey field or out hacking on the roads” Ann is thrilled at the consistent success she has shared with her lovely horse.
RoR is British horseracing’s official charity for the welfare of horses who have retired from racing. It raises funds from within racing to provide facilities for the care, retraining and re-homing of former racehorses, and to promote awareness of the suitability of the retrained racehorse for other equine careers.
Di Arbuthnot, RoR director of operations, said “This series provides a focus for ex-racehorses competing in the disciplines of Eventing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Endurance and Showing, and I hope it will encourage more riders to recognize the talents and versatility of the thoroughbred and their potential for success in another sphere.”
South Essex Insurance Brokers instigated the former Racehorse to Riding Horse Performance Awards in order to support the retraining of the thousands of racehorses who come out of training each year. “The Performance Awards also provide a platform to show how a correctly re-schooled ex-racehorse can be successful in a new career and continue to have a bright future, competing successfully in many different disciplines. This year’s competition has proved yet again the versatility and resilience of the thoroughbred”, says Nicolina Mackenzie, Marketing Manager of SEIB.
To find out more about the ROR and SEIB Elite Performance Awards visit www.racehorse2ridinghorse.co.uk. Or, www.ror.org.uk
To be eligible, horses must have run in the UK and be registered with ROR, details of the 2011 competition will be available soon.
Photos © Trevor Meeks
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