VIRTUAL EVENT’S £180,000 TOTAL

THE final total raised for the NHS and medical charities by the Virtual 5* Eventing competition is £178,500.

More than a million online viewers watched 50 riders take part in the event, which ran from 6 to 10 May, the dates Badminton Horse Trials should have run.

Each rider took part in fundraising, while a silent auction that ran until 16 May, and sales of Virtual Eventing merchandise, added to the overall total.

Organiser Rachel Wakefield said: “Eventing has a big community and it’s been amazing to see how our sport has united.”