HORSEPOWER WINS OUT FOR EVENTERS

“THIS bodes well for the World Championships,” joked Mark Todd as an eventers’ team of three New Zealanders and an Aussie beat the jockeys in the JCB Champions’ Challenge relay race in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund.

Their secret weapon was knowing your horsepower as the riders choose horses from the inter-hunt relay, won by the Avon Vale.

While team captain Jonelle Price secured a smart grey from the North Cotswold team, both Mark Todd and Tim Price picked horses they had previously piloted in this class. Meanwhile Lissa Green won the race to grab the coloured pony mare who had starred for the Warwickshire under 13-year-old Martha Reeve.

Jockey team captain Richard Johnson acquired Yvonne Goss’ Golden Button winner Jaffa, but with the eventing squad “clipped and orderly” — as husband Tim described Jonelle’s captaincy style — the jockeys finished over 13 seconds in arrears.