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4 minute read
Promising young horses sparkle at Cirencester Park
Talented young event horses impressed in The Howden Way Young Horse classes this weekend at Cirencester Park.
Kitty King enjoyed a superb weekend at Cirencester Park, winning The Howden Way Seven-year-old class with the exciting Dassett Flight Path. The gelding by I’m Special De Muze out of Venus De Bethune, is owned by Elizabeth Golby and showed his class to take the win in what was his first Intermediate run.
Speaking after her victory, Kitty was full of praise for her talented young horse: “It was Dassett Flight Path’s first Intermediate and he was exceptional. I hoped he’d go well as he was well prepared, but he exceeded my expectations and made it all feel incredibly easy, which is extremely exciting for the future.”
The pair delivered a confident and polished performance across all three phases, with Dassett Flight Path demonstrating maturity beyond his years to finish on his dressage score of 22.7. Looking ahead, Kitty plans to build on this success with a few more Intermediate runs, a trip to Bicton for the CCI2*-L, and an exciting aim towards the FEI World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Le Lion d’Angers in the autumn.
Phoebe Locke and Kilmanahan Ulysses took the runner-up spot also finishing on their dressage score of 29.8, while third went to Laura Collett and Cooley Iceage who added just 0.4 time penalties across country and four faults showjumping to finish on 30.8.
Six-year-old
In The Howden Way six-year-old ranks, Michael Jackson took the top honours riding Oscar. A double clear saw the pair finish on their dressage of 24.3. The gelding by Kitt SB out of Flair is jointly owned by Michael, Gwen Meacham and Heather Bell.
Michael commented on the promising young horse’s performance: “I’m very pleased with Oscar. It was his first run of the year and he always delivers at a competition. In fact, he's probably best to ride and compete at a competition when there's a lot more going on than at home. I’m chuffed to bits with him, especially cross-country, because obviously going quick for a novice first time out, for a six-year-old, is quite a big ask, but he coped very well. The aim for him is another couple of novices, and then he's going to head up to Belsay for the two-star short, and then we'll make a bit more of a plan for the autumn.”
In second was Storm Straker and Abydos who finished on 27.3, while Melissa Joannides and Russmond Maybee were third on 29.2.
The series, supported by The Howden Way, is an ideal opportunity for riders to expose their up-and-coming eventers to the atmosphere of bigger venues, while competing against other horses of the same age. The classes offer recognition for the highest performing horses in these classes.
The Young Horse classes take place throughout the spring and summer in some of BE’s most stunning venues with the 6-year-old classes running at novice level, and the 7-year-old classes running at intermediate level. The top three in each class receive an additional £250, £150, £100 respectively on top of the prize money already generated and awarded by the prize money calculator.
For dates of the young horse classes this year, please click here
Alongside these classes, the performance of young horses competing with British Eventing is acknowledged within The Howden Way Young Horse Leagues which can be found here. There are four leagues which cover the ages of 5 years, 6 years, 7 years and then the ages of 8 & 9 combined. The leagues display the average of a horse’s three best finishing scores via a Power Based Average score which highlights the ability to repeatedly finish on a low score.
The 2025 Young Horse Championships take place at Cornbury House Horse Trials in Oxfordshire between 11-14 September. The classes will also benefit those aiming their young horses at the FEI World Breeding Championships at Le Lion d’Angers, which hosts a CCI2*-L World Championship for six-year-olds and a CCI3*-L World Championship for seven-year-olds. Horses identified at the Cornbury House Young Horse Championships are invited to The Howden Way Development Days, and if selected, invited to join The Howden Way Young Horse Academy for the following year.
More details of which can be found here: www.thehowdenway.com/yha
Images courtesy of Topshots Photography