Fri 9th Sep 2016RoR Racing to Polo Challenge New Classes and Plenty of Entries for 2016
On Monday 5 September, the fourth RoR Racing to Polo Challenge took place at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, which included five classes and then in the selection for Overall Champion, there were also five classes. In each class the horses were required to pass a veterinary inspection and appear in front of two conformation judges, one of which was the trainer Harry Whittington. Horse and rider then underwent a turnout inspection before the main phase of each class, the performance test. In this stage contestants were judged on transitions, lateral movement, checking and turning over the course of a two minute display.
This year saw the introduction a new class for horses that have not raced in Great Britain. This class was for all age groups and had ten entries, including some horses with fantastic pedigrees, which the commentator Piers Plunkett explained in detail. The judges did not have an easy start to the day, but Richard, the Earl of Tyrone, was chosen as Champion on his four-year-old former Irish trained horse Broadfield Puddle, by Paco Boy, and the Reserve Champion was Roddy Mathews’ North Code. The second class was a hotly contested class for three-year-olds. In this class riders were additionally required to prove the introduction of the polo mallet and again there were ten entries. One of the most impressive horses in the class was Drawn To Be Lady, whose most recent race had only been in July this year. She was produced and ridden on the day by Will Brasher and despite her lack of experience the pair came an extremely respectable sixth place. However, the winner and Champion of this class was the filly Mary Parmenter produced by Sebastian Chialvo, and the Reserve Champion was Alistair Paterson’s Aim High. Next into the ring were the four-year-olds. There nine entries for this class and the judges continued to be impressed by the performances by former racehorses. The Champion four-year-old was Ed Hitchman’s Wesie’s Dream and the Reserve Champion was Magic Time ridden by Rory Horne. The final two classes were the main Championship Classes, where both the Champion and Reserve Champion of each class automatically qualified for the Overall Championship Performance Class. The first was the five-year-old class, which was won by Byron Watson’s Ivan B. The Reserve in this class was Patisserie shown by Rory Horne for owner Alan Kent. The second class was for horses aged six-years or older. This inevitably attracted the most entries, with 16 in total. The eventual Champion was Alan Kent’s Maria Medecis and Roddy Mathews’ Cool Light took Reserve Champion. In the end, the Overall Champion for the Racing to Polo Challenge 2016 was Ivan B, ridden by Byron Watson and owned by Martin Glue. The winner received £1,500 as well as a crystal wine decanter and the Balding Trophy. The overall Reserve Champion was Cool Light, owned by Roddy Mathews. They won an additional £250. Photograph: Richard, the Earl of Tyrone’s four-year-old Champion Broadfield Puddle. By Olivia Spiller
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