Jayne McGivern’s former racehorse Our Old Fella competing with Piggy March at Cornbury House Horse Trials in 2021. Photo: © Sarah Farnsworth
Cornbury House Horse Trials is delighted to reveal more details of the exciting new class for ex-racehorses – a joint initiative between Cornbury and Jayne McGivern of Dash Grange Stud – to be run at the Oxfordshire event in 2025.
With a first prize of £45,000, the aim of the class is to raise the profile of thoroughbred horses’ suitability for eventing. Jayne McGivern and Cornbury House Horse Trials’ founder and president David Howden are owners and breeders of racehorses as well as event horses, and bringing these two equestrian sports closer together is a shared passion.
The Cornbury Racehorses Eventing Challenge will be run at British Eventing Open Novice level, but using an FEI CCI2*-S dressage test in a long arena and with the showjumping phase last and in reverse order. The aim for subsequent years will be to run the class at British Eventing Intermediate level.
Entrants must have achieved two Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs) as a combination at novice in the current season (2025). Horses must not have competed at CCI4* level or above in the past two seasons. Riders will be restricted to two entries each, and horses do not need to have raced or to have been in training, but must be registered with Weatherbys or the appropriate thoroughbred studbook of their country of origin.
David Howden, Cornbury House Horse Trials’ president and founder, said: “I am so excited that we will be introducing this very special class at CHHT in 2025. Jayne McGivern and I share a joint passion for both eventing and racing and for the amazing horses in those sports, and we hope to draw attention to the wonderful versatility of thoroughbred – and to encourage our best riders to recognise their suitability for eventing and to reward them for the correct training of them.”
Jayne McGivern said: “There is no doubt that thoroughbreds can shine at the very top level in eventing, and I hope this class will inspire our top riders and everyone else connected to this fantastic sport to believe in them and give them the opportunities and the best care and training to reach their full potential.
The 2024 running of Cornbury House Horse Trials is underway, and runs from 11-15 September. Tickets may be purchased online at www.cornburyhousehorsetrials.
