It's been nearly two decades since the first RoR showing championship took place at Hickstead. Victoria Goff finds out more about transforming former racehorses into showing stars
In 2005, a new showing championship for former racehorses was announced by the charity Retraining of Racehorses (RoR). It comprised a series of nationwide qualifiers, and a final that would take place in the International Arena during the Hickstead Derby Meeting.
Brostaig Ort, a Roger Curtis-trained gelding who had won a point-to-point as well as three times over fences, was the very first winner of the RoR Final, ridden by Helen Kington. In the 18 years since then, showing ex-racehorses has exploded in popularity, and so many different horses have won the Hickstead final, from those who made no impact on the racecourse or who didn’t even make it to the track, all the way up to Grade One horses such as Her Majesty The Queen’s Barbers Shop, who won in 2013.
Nearly two decades since that first final, the Tattersalls/RoR Show Horse Championship has gone from strength to strength, with qualifiers taking place all over the country. There are now divisions for Flat and National Hunt horses in the open final, as well as separate Amateur classes for both codes too. All four classes take place in Ring Five, with the top 10 from each coming forward for the final judging in the International Arena. This takes place shortly before the Al Shira’aa Derby, when the stands are busy and the atmosphere electric, and it is testament to the versatility of the racehorse that so many of them take this in their stride.
“When the finalists come into the International Arena, that's when you really see how good they are because some step through that arch and just own that arena,” says Hickstead’s Showing Director, David Ingle. While some horses utterly thrive in this situation, for others the busy atmosphere can sometimes be a bit too reminiscent of their former racing career, and they become unsettled. “I’ve seen some lovely horses who have gone in there and found it too much and they bubble over. It's a real championship test,” he adds.
One horse who certainly rose to the occasion was Time Down Under, the 2022 champion. “We walked in first for the go-round, and I was on the most novice horse of them all,” says his rider, top show producer Justine Armstrong-Small. “He went around the showjumps and past all the stands, and he gave me a lovely ride around the ring. We went past the champagne bar, with the parasols and all the people, and I wondered if he’d get overawed, but it was almost like he enjoyed all the attention, and was showing off to the crowd. He did such a nice lengthen, and I've got a lovely picture of him galloping up the long side and me smiling. He felt wonderful.”
Time Down Under, a son of Aussie Rules, raced three times on the flat as a 2yo but finished last on all three starts. After retiring from the track, he had not done very much beyond a few in-hand classes. “It was during lockdown, and we were all a bit bored, so I was looking for a project. A friend said they had this Thoroughbred that was doing nothing at home, and asked if I would be interested in having him. We thought we may as well go and look at him, so we went to Lowestoft to meet Time Down Under.
Did he immediately look like a potential champion? “I thought he was quite light, just not much muscle, but he was very correct, and very good limbs with plenty of bone for his size. He’s only 15.2hh, but he's very much a hack type. He had good conformation, with a good length of rein, so I thought there was quite a lot of potential for him.”
Some horses retire from the racecourse one week and are happily showing the next, but Time Down Under took a bit more time to readjust. “When I tried him he was quite laid back, and he didn't really want to canter. But as we got going with him, he's actually got quite a lot about him. He can be spooky, and he's not been that easy to retrain,” Justine adds.
His first show was September 2020, when he went to Arena UK for a novice RoR class. “We was fine warming up in a small indoor arena, but we went to a big outdoor arena and he was completely starstruck. The front went up, the back went up, everything went up. But we did some more working in, I put earplugs in, and we went in the class and he was actually fine.”
Within a year of getting him, Justine and Time Down Under made the Hickstead final for the first time. “We got there the day before, on the hunter day, and he was a bit starstruck again seeing so many horses,” says Justine. “But the next day when we went back, he was a lot better, and he was really good in the main ring and ended up in third place.”
It was a brilliant introduction to the International Arena, and the following year he went on to win the overall championship, finishing ahead of Minella Rebellion and Katie Dashwood in reserve. As a past winner, Time Down Under is now ineligible to compete in the final again, so he will now be aimed at the HOYS series, as well as doing some Novice Hack classes.
What makes RoR classes unique is that each horse is shown as its type – whether that be hack, riding horse, or hunter, so you’ll have a real mix of shapes and sizes. “If you have an ex-racehorse who meets the requirements to be a show horse, they can be any type, and they’re all judged very much on a platform,” says David.
Another thing that makes the RoR series special is that it gives amateur show riders the chance to qualify and compete at Hickstead. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for amateurs to demonstrate just how good they are,” David adds. “The standard has become so high.”
Justine believes RoR classes have helped to bring newcomers into showing. “It can cost around £30,000 for a top show horse, but an ex-racehorse can be anybody's market if you can find a good one. This opens showing up to more people and brings them into the sport.” What should people look for in a potential RoR champion? “Correct conformation, good looks, a ‘look at me’ sort of horse with a bit of presence,” she says.
If you do want to get involved in showing a former racehorse, David Ingle has the following advice. “Be patient, and give yourself lots of opportunity to prepare your horse for its new job. It’s a very different experience for them, and often they’ll get to a show and hear a tannoy, when the last time they heard one they were going down to the start. Make sure your horse has time to adjust, especially before entering the bigger shows.”
On the final day of the Al Shira'aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, a new RoR champion will be crowned in front of an enthusiastic Hickstead crowd. It is the perfect place to showcase the versatility of the Thoroughbred, and to prove to the wider public that so many ex-racehorses can go on to have wonderful second careers. “Having these championships at Hickstead is a real inspiration, with riders perhaps having the opportunity to compete in the International Arena when they might not have been able to otherwise,” says David. “Having the RoR Tattersalls final here has been a phenomenal success story.”
This article was first published in June 2023
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