Frickley Park International played host to The Howden Way six- and seven-year-old Young Horse classes. The age classes give riders a platform in which to showcase their talented six- and seven-year-old event horses.
Katie Magee scored a one-two in the six-year-old class, finishing on her dressage score of 31 to take the top spot with Newton, and finishing in second on 33.9 riding Aristrocrat. Lucy Sugden was third with Opalus B on 40.1.
Dutch gelding Newton, by Cohinoor VDL out of Joselina, has had a great season so far, never finishing out of the top 10 in any of his eight starts, including three wins.
Katie said: “I was really pleased with the novice boys. They were all feeling a little well in the dressage, but jumped brilliantly around the decent show jumping and cross-country tracks. Unfortunately, Newton is for sale, but I’m going to enjoy continuing to produce him at novice level in the meantime. He’s a really smart, consistent horse who loves his cross-country, so I love riding him.”
Seven-year-old
Jack Pinkney took the honours in the seven-year-old riding The Duchess Of Norfolk, Lady Catherine Carleton-Smith and his own Monbeg Stone Town on a score of 39. In second was Tom Jackson and Hugh and Pam Jarvis’ Cooley Cornasus on a score of 44.6, and in third was Hector Payne and Global Karina on 47.1.
Irish gelding Monbeg Stone Town is by Tyson out of Ballinteeauns Pride and has shown lots of promise in his seven-year-old year, finishing 14th in his first 2* in May, followed by 16th place in his first 3* and 6th place in his second attempt at the level.
Jack said: “It was a great win for Monbeg Stone Town, aka Mikey, yesterday. His owners have been very supportive for a long time now. We brought him as a three-year-old and we’ve known since then that he was going to be a superstar in the making. He is just such a pleasure to ride and when you’ve known them for so long, you create a very good partnership.
“Our big plan is Le Lion with him this year, but it’s a very competitive year, and if it doesn’t happen, then it’s not meant to be.
“I just wanted to say a massive thank you to David Howden for the Howden Way Young Horse program, as they’ve helped massively with the progress with him and my other young horses. It’s a brilliant initiative offering great support throughout the year.
“And to top it off, when you win a 7 or 6yo class, you go home with some very generous prize money! We’re really Looking forward to the championship at Cornbury in a few weeks!”
The series, supported by The Howden Way, is an ideal opportunity for riders to expose their up-and-coming eventers to the atmosphere of bigger venues, while competing against other horses of the same age. The classes offer recognition for the highest performing horses in these classes.
The Young Horse classes take place throughout the spring and summer in some of BE’s most stunning venues with the 6-year-old classes running at novice level, and the 7-year-old classes running at intermediate level.
The top three in each class receive an additional £250, £150, £100 respectively on top of the prize money already generated and awarded by the prize money calculator.
For dates of the young horse classes this year, please click here
Alongside these classes, the performance of young horses competing with British Eventing is acknowledged within The Howden Way Young Horse Leagues which can be found here. There are four leagues which cover the ages of 5 years, 6 years, 7 years and then the ages of 8 & 9 combined. The leagues display the average of a horse’s three best finishing scores via a Power Based Average score which highlights the ability to repeatedly finish on a low score.
The 2024 Young Horse Championships take place at Cornbury House Horse Trials in Oxfordshire between 12-15 September. The classes will also benefit those aiming their young horses at the FEI World Breeding Championships at Le Lion d’Angers between 17-20 October, which hosts a CCI2*-L World Championship for six-year-olds and a CCI3*-L World Championship for seven-year-olds.
Photos courtesy of Julia Shearwood Photography
