Thoroughbreds at the top of eventing

Thoroughbred horses competing at previous Olympic Games have been listed as ‘breeding unknown’ but an agreement reached in May 2023 between various governing bodies of equestrian sport means that thoroughbred horses competing in any of the equestrian disciplines – dressage, show jumping and eventing – will, for the first time, be recognised in the official starting lists and results at Paris 2024.

And, while thoroughbred breeding may not be at the fore of the Olympic showjumping and dressage disciplines, there are plenty of thoroughbreds competing at the top of the sport of eventing, some with good chances of being selected to represent their country at Paris 2024.

Two hot prospects for Paris 2024 selection from the Antipodes are Shenae Lowings’ Bold Venture (Australia) and Monica Spencer’s Artist (New Zealand). The Australian bred Bold Venture raced without great success under the name Hell on Wheels before starting a new career with eventing rider Shenae Lowings in 2016. They quickly rose through the levels together with major successes in Australia before being selected to compete at the FEI Eventing World Championships in Italy 2022 and, following their CCI4* win at Adelaide Equestrian Festival in April 2024, are firmly in the selectors’ eyes. 

New Zealand’s Monica Spencer is another big fan of thoroughbred horses, having produced many to top level throughout her eventing career. And when she re-located to the USA in early 2024, there was one very talented thoroughbred she was not going to leave behind. Her 13-year-old bay gelding Artist (Guillotine/Maxamore – Volksraad), bred by Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand, trialled twice but never raced before starting his career with Monica in international level eventing in 2018. Like Bold Venture, Artist represented his country at the 2022 World Championships and has also tackled three of just seven CCI5* events in the world – finishing in the top 10 at both Maryland 2023 and Kentucky 2024 at their first starts there.

Another Australian thoroughbred that shone at his first CCI5* was Sophia Hill’s Humble Glory (Bernardini/Sharpen – Shovhog), who took third place at the 2023 Adelaide Equestrian Festival. Their success prompted Sophia to also make a move, packing up not just her two top thoroughbred horses, Humble Glory and Seattle Park, but also her family, including baby Oliver, to compete for a season in England. Luckily, it turns out that, as well as being one of Australia’s top eventing horses, Humble Glory is also a wonderful babysitter, enjoying a nuzzle with his favourite child after finishing his training each day.

Sophia’s big aim is to compete Humble Glory at the high-profile Burghley CCI5* later this year, one of two 5* competitions in England, along with Badminton Horse Trials, that attract the best riders and horses in the world.  

They couldn’t defend their podium place at Adelaide in 2024 due to their travels, but another thoroughbred did claim third place again in this year’s Adelaide CCI5*. This time it was a New Zealand thoroughbred, DSE Mendoza ridden by Donna Edwards-Smith, that climbed up the leaderboard with an impressive gallop around the cross country course, despite a broken stirrup bar on Donna’s saddle during the ride. Cross country is of course the phase that thoroughbreds excel in, not just because of their speed but their willingness to dig deep for their rider, with Donna summing it up after their ride as “He has the heart of a lion”.

This quirky and almost independent thinking, mentioned by many riders of top-class thoroughbred eventing horses, may be why DSE Mendoza (Scardee Cat/Megan’s Dream - Marquetry), who raced as Pompei Cat, is known as ‘Lewis The Brave’ at home. It may also maybe why his previous rider, who parted company from ‘Lewis’ at a clinic with Donna, promised “If you can catch him, you can have him!”. The offer stood, and Donna gained a ‘lion’ of a thoroughbred in her stable.

The year of the thoroughbred at Kentucky Three Day Event

The USA’s Bruce (Buck) Davidson Snr., a legend of the sport celebrated by the famous statue at Kentucky Horse Park, had his first big win at the Kentucky Three Day Event in 1978 on board a seven-year-old off the track thoroughbred named Might Tango. Bruce went on to represent the USA at four Olympic Games, winning two gold and two silver medals, and on his retirement, he went into the breeding of thoroughbred horses.

It is therefore not surprising that his son, Buck Davidson Jnr., a renowned eventing rider and coach in his own right, is a big fan of thoroughbreds. This year at Kentucky Three Day Event, Buck and the 13-year-old gelding Sorocaima (Rock Hard Ten/Sankobasi) took sixth place in the CCI5*.

“You can’t underestimate the heart of a thoroughbred” said Buck at the end of the competition, admitting that even he was surprised by the result, given that the horse was in just his fourth year of eventing after a good career on the track.

It seemed that 2024 was the year of the thoroughbred at Kentucky with horses such as Phelps (bought for a dollar, clear and under time at his first two CCI5* starts in the past 12 months) Twilightslastgleam (the 14-year-old with Kissing Spine that completed his third Kentucky 5* this year) and Sea of Clouds (previously ridden by Olympic gold medallist Phillip Dutton and now competed by his 23-year-old daughter Olivia) helping to raise the profile and level of interest in the performance and characters of these inspiring equine athletes.

Another thoroughbred that is short-listed for Paris 2024 from this part of the world is the adorably named Wabbit, ridden by Canada’s Jessica Phoenix. Three-time Olympian, Jessie is aiming for another Olympic team berth, this time with the 14-year-old grey gelding Wabbit (Line of Departure/No Kisses - Great Gladiator), who raced as Molinaro Kissing and took 11^th place at Burghley CCI5* in 2023. A pinged frangible fence safety device stopped them having another very good result at Badminton CCI5* this year but Jessie, who started riding Wabbit as a four-year-old, could not have been happier with her horse’s overall performance.

“He is one of the most charismatic horses you will ever be around” said Jessie at Badminton “He is a larger-than-life personality, he could be his own character – just like a cartoon – and he lives for cross country day.”