Rising British star Max Warburton won the British Eventing Young Horse Championship class for five-year-olds, supported by The Howden Way, at Cornbury House Horse Trials (11-15 September) today.
Max, 26, rode Earl Dorado, a Diarado gelding owned by Max himself and Nicky and Robin Salmon. The Salmons are long-standing supporters of eventing who have owned top horses such as Lord Killinghurst and Mr Cruise Control with Andrew Nicholson.
Max completed on his dressage score of 27.5, and said: “The young horses are a massive part of the sport and if we don’t have them coming along, we don’t have the future top ones. It’s great that Cornbury House Horse Trials and [event founder and president] David Howden host these important championships – they’ve really looked after us.
“My partner [Irish Olympian] Susie Berry and I first saw Earl Dorado as a three-year-old and we didn’t buy him then – he was quite a big horse. We ended up seeing him again as a four-year-old, though, and bought him and managed to sell him to Nicky and Robin. Nicky in particular has been a great, great supporter of the sport so it’s lovely for her to have a very special five-year-old.”
Tom Grant finished second on his own Tinkerbell Van De Molenbeek on 27.6, and Imogen Murray was third on Arabella Henderson’s Poynstown Venture on a score of 27.9.
Cornbury House Horse Trials comes to an exciting conclusion tomorrow (Sunday, 11 September) with the final showjumping phase of the British Eventing Young Horse Championships, supported by The Howden Way, for six- and seven-year-old horses, The Howden Way CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S for under-21 riders, the Project Pony Pony Trial and a final CCI2*-S.
Double Olympic team gold medallist Tom McEwen is in the lead in the seven-year-old championships on Fred and Penny Barker’s Maestro, while Bubby Upton tops the six-year-old final on her own Sancerre De Tiji.
As well as a feast of equestrian sport, featuring many of the world’s most famous riders, Cornbury Horse Horse Trials is an innovative and exciting blend of local, sustainable food and drink from our neighbouring farms, premium hospitality, and interactive children’s activities in the stunning setting of Cornbury Park.