Eventing is looking for a top-level sponsor, as banking giant HSBC has ended its six-year involvement with the sport.
The lucrative HSBC Classics series — which awards £100,000 to the rider with the best results at four-star events — has been won by British eventers for each of the five years it has run.
William Fox-Pitt, who won the series in 2008, 2010 and 2012, said the news was “very disappointing for eventing.
“The HSBC Classics attracted considerable media interest and was a life-changing prize for riders,” he added.
This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (14 March 2013)