‘She was poetry in motion’: mare retains Windsor title after polished performance
Exceptionally strong ridden part-bred and anglo Arab classes held on the final day of the 2024 Royal Windsor Horse Show were led by last year’s champion, Annabel Pope’s mare seven-year-old Stage Diva.
Piloted by her producer Hannah Horton, the Tiger Attack daughter, who was bred by Virginia Russell-Wood out of prolific mare and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) supreme in-hand star Stage Music, impressed judge Emma Livesey throughout the class and the championship.
“She has substance and limb, and she covered the ground,” Emma said. “She was elegant and full of quality, too. She had beautiful self-carriage and she coped very well with the going. The show was polished and foot-perfect; it was poetry in motion.”
Last season was the mare’s first in the show ring, though as well as her Windsor triumph she was novice champion at Hertfordshire County and she was also a winner at the BSPS winter championships. She has been on a flyer this year ahead of Windsor, standing champion at South of England and winning at BSPS Area 6 on her only two outings.
Emma chose the second placed horse, Stanley Grange Smokey Bay, a Litton Reflection seven-year-old bred by Jerome Harforth and ridden by his owner Samantha Burns, for the reserve spot behind Stage Diva.
“This was also a lovely horse with good quality limb and flat bone who performed beautifully,” Emma said. “The larges outshone the smalls in the championship.”
The small class winner was Lauren White aboard Tana White’s Kingvean Rockstar 14-year-old Rendene Noble Charm, while in second was Jenny Harker’s Rotherwood Fantasia, a 12-year-old mare by Landemann Nighthawk, ridden by Emma Harker.
Chiddock Countdown is reserve Arab and part-bred Arab in-hand champion at the 2024 Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Another part-bred who shone bright was Sammy Sykes’ young stallion Chiddock Countdown, a four-year-old by Chiddock Time Limit out of Wilderness Fancy Spice, a big-winning mare when she was shown under-saddle. Handled by Daniel Tarpey, the 2023 HOYS finalist stood reserve Arab champion behind pure-bred stallion Roe Raheeb, owned by Sue Oldham and handled by Rod Jones.
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