Andrew Nicholson Puzzled by Lack of Rider Support for £45,000 Ex-Racehorse Class at Cornbury

Bubby Upton has claimed victory in the lucrative Arena Racing Company racehorse-to-eventer challenge class at the Cornbury House Horse Trials. Upton targeted this high-stakes competition riding Enhanced, a horse owned by Phoebe and Jeffrey Hobby.

Although the Cornbury House Horse Trials is a highly popular and well-organized event, prominent event rider Andrew Nicholson expressed his disappointment over the low engagement from competitors in this challenge class. The winner of this class receives a prize of £45,000, an amount Nicholson notes is unmatched by almost any other event in the country, with the sole exceptions of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials and the Mars Badminton Horse Trials.

Nicholson stated he was mystified as to why more riders have not embraced this opportunity. He pointed out that acquiring a retired racehorse is not expensive, and riding one additional horse per day should not require significant effort for professional riders whose job is to do so.

Andrew Nicholson, a highly accomplished New Zealand five-star event rider, has won the Burghley event five times and took top honors at Badminton in 2017. He is also a three-time Olympic medalist, having secured two team bronze medals and one team silver, and currently serves as the cross-country coach for the Swiss eventing team.