The Championship Finals for the Retraining of Racehorses winter dressage series was staged during the Scottish National Equestrian Centre’s dressage contest.
The ROR instigated the competition to encourage more owners and riders of former racehorses to have fun with their flatwork starting out at prelim and novice level competition.
Winner of the Prelim Championship final was former racehorse trainer Shelley Johnstone, riding her Irish-bred gelding Soneva Gili.
Now 11-year-old, this son of Sakhee, bred out of Navajo Love Song, formerly raced both on the flat and over hurdles with wins of approximately £1300. Originally trained in Ireland, by Dermot Weld, as a two-year-old on the flat, Gili was then sent to the Doncaster Sales where he was bought by a syndicate from Carlisle who, in turn, put him into training locally.
“He eventually came to me in October 2009, when I had my full trainers’ license,” explained Shelley, who lives in Hawick but who now works full time in Selkirk for local trainer Stuart Coltherd.
“He ran five times over hurdles under my training, but after that we decided he wasn’t really in love with the game.
“I was given the opportunity to purchase him, so I did. He’s a pretty special horse on my yard and I had put such a lot of work into him!” she added.
After retiring Gili from the racetrack in March 2011, Shelley initially took him out to local riding club competitions in the Borders to give him a flavour of different disciplines.
“He took to flatwork very well, so I decided to event him,” she added.
In this sphere, over the last two or so seasons at BE90 and BE100 level Gili has notched up several placings including an ROR win at Hendersyde Horse Trials.
Last year he progressed to stand seventh in the BE90 Scottish Championships.
Having qualified for the ROR dressage finals with wins at the Ian Stark Equestrian Centre, they progressed to the prelim final.
“Gili felt like he had produced a nice test, but you never can tell how it will get marked,” explained Shelley, who gets flatwork help at her livery yard from Sarah Hislop and who also has regular dressage lessons from Fiona Busby. “It was fabulous to win.”
Prevailing to stand as winners of the Novice Championship was Perthshire partnership Georgina Chalmers Gray and her young bay gelding Eduardo, from Blairgowrie.
“We bought Ed at the end of May in 2013, from Yorkshire,” Georgina explained of the rising six-year-old, sired by Beat Hollow and out of Cuyamaca.
Eduardo, which was trained by Jedd O’Keeffe, ran 11 times on the flat. Proving himself capable within both the dressage arena and over coloured and rustic fences, Eduardo has collected recent wins at Tayside Dressage Group and also won his first working hunter competition last year at Brechin.
At Blair Castle Horse Trials, last August, he was placed third within the Tattersalls and ROR Thoroughbred Scotland ridden show horse class.
“I loved riding the novice test he had been a bit nervous in the prelim,” said Georgina. “My mother Rebecca and I have been working on his medium trot, which showed on the day as he just flew across the diagonal!”
Taking the reserve titles across both levels was another Borders rider and full-time fire fighter Jennifer Lange, from Walkerburn, riding her own mare Desdamona.
Jennifer, who also qualified at ISEC, similarly events with the nine-year-old, which was sired by Desert Style and bred out of Tattymulmona Queen, Desdamona made her BE debut in 2010, taking sixth place in the BE80 competition at Strathallan Castle.
Progressing up to BE100 level over recent seasons, she finished in the top six at Hopetoun and Warwick Hall last year and has won the ROR section at Hendersyde on two separate occasions.
“I bought her as a three-yearold, straight out of racing,” Jennifer explained of the mare which was trained on the flat by Alan Berry.
Also successful in the show ring, the partnership has qualifier for the ROR finals at both the Royal Highland and Windsor shows this season.
equestrian@thecourier.co.ukResults
Prelim Championship Final (Prelim 19): 1 Shelley Johnstone, Soneva Gili, 70.91; 2 Jennifer Lange, Desdamona, 66.82; 3 Diane Duffus, Knockcairn, 65.91; 4 Suzanne Muir, Moonlight Fantasy, 62.05; 5 Georgina Chalmers Gray, Eduardo, 61.82; 6 Terri Lindley-Hurrell, Ultra Special, 59.55.
Novice Championship Final (Novice 39): 1 Georgina Chalmers Gray, Eduardo, 66.21; 2 Jennifer Lange, Desdamona, 65.86; 3 Suzanne Muir, Moonlight Fantasy, 63.45; 4 Terri Lindley-Hurrell, Ultra Special, 63.28; 5 Nancy Kirkpatrick, Toulaman, 59.14