The winners of the year’s first performance prize money paid out to the riders leading British Eventing’s new Grassroots Opposition Beaten Percentage (OBP) Leagues have been announced. They will each receive a pay-out of up to £300 after topping the leagues at the end of the two-month period for March/April.
Prize money is paid out every other month to the person at the top of each of the leagues, as well as the overall winners at the end of the season. The bi-monthly ‘Performance Bonus’ can only be won once within each league, and it will go down the line if the current leader has already won it in the season. The Newcomer OBP League is solely for those in their first two seasons.
Congratulations to our March/April winners:
Newcomer and BE90 OBP League – Emilia Rogers and Jacksonlyn topped both with a OBP of 83.7%
Emilia and Jacksonlyn were 10th at Poplar Park in March, won their BE90 class at Munstead (1) in March and were sixth at Calmsden in April. Emilia wins £200 for the Newcomer league and £250 for the BE90 league.
“I am incredibly grateful and excited to win the Newcomers and BE90 OBP league for the March- April period,” said Emilia. “It came as a bit of a surprise as I am new to eventing and this is our first proper season together. I am going to use this money to save up for a dressage saddle which is something I have always wanted. I am so fortunate to have the amazing Jacksonlyn. After an injury cut our first season short last year, he has come back better than ever! Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me. I am especially grateful to Emily Baldwin who has helped me so much being at Mayfield School. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds for us!”
BE80 OBP League – Simone Money and Crannard Pringles with a OBP of 85.9%
Simone and Crannard Pringles won their first BE80 of the season at Poplar Park and were fourth in the BE80 at Munstead in March, followed by finishing 10th at Norton Disney is April. They win £200.
“My boss bought ‘Merv’ in 2020 and I loved him straight away,” said Simone. “However, he was super sharp, bolting if you moved on him and laid down if you tried to pick up his feet. So, my boss let me buy him from her. It has taken a while to gain his trust but he is now amazing and the easiest horse on yard. We started BE and did very well in our first season, getting a wild card to qualify for Bramham BE80 Championships, but the day before I sent my entry, we had a crashing fall show jumping with me sustaining a broken collarbone and ribs and a bruised lung. My collarbone had to be operated on. Merv was ok, but a bit shook up, so that ended our 2023 season. After doing a bit of dressage in the winter, we wanted to prove to ourselves we could do it again, and this season he has just been incredible. I am hoping to gain a Bramham qualification for 2025. He came out at Poplar with very little prep, so to come out and win was a real confidence boost and he has just been awesome since. I am really looking forward to rest of the season.”
BE100 OBP League £300 – Lucinda Mills and Chaconda Blue with a OBP of 90.9%
Lucinda and Chaconda Blue won their first BE100 event of 2024 at Norton Disney, were third in the BE100 at Oxstalls (x), and seventh in the BE100 at Calmsden. They win £300.
“I am absolutely over the moon!” said Lucinda. “My horse Chaconda Blue keeps on surprising me. We started British Eventing two years ago and she has been very consistent in her results. This year I kept her at BE100 until our Badminton grassroots where she was phenomenal and won the class! Our plans are now to do a few novices with the aim of going 2* at the end of the season. I can’t thank BE enough for providing these competitions and leagues.”
Congratulations to our winners!
The Leagues have been designed around the concept of the Opposition Beaten Percentage (OBP), the brainchild of Equiratings, and acknowledge how competitive a combination was in a particular class – the greater the number of fellow competitors that they finished ahead of, the better the score.
Find out more about the leagues, and how you could be winning your share of this amazing prize pot, here.
