Exciting climax to Horse & Hound Foxhunter as five-year-old Unbelievable Darco takes historic title at the Horse of the Year Show
The NEC arena was buzzing when one of the most exciting Horse & Hound Foxhunter finals witnessed at the Horse of the Year Show ended in victory for Sussex-based rider Joe Clee and the youngest ever horse to win this historic championship, the five-year-old Unbelievable Darco.
This stallion, by the great performer Darco out of a Grandeur mare, has enjoyed a tremendous season and this was a marvellous finale. He had justreturned from representing Britain at the World Breeding Championships, where he won the consolation final.
The charismatic black was bought by Cyril Light of Pyecombe’s Brendon Stud in Sussex as a foal, and this win, the second for thislong-time supporter of this class, put the icing on a fantastic year.
“I can’t believe it,” said Joe, who was fresh from third place in the young dressage horse evaluation final on another of the Lights’ stallions, the four-year-old Caretino Glory. “It’s the class everyone wants to win and I don’t think it will sink in for a week.”
The only other double clear was jumped by Yorkshire’s Carl Curtis on the British-bred Rafiki, another stallion who was bred in Essex by Sally Lane and turned to jumping after an eventing career.
Third went to one of the pre-class favourites, Peter Murphy, on Gerard Leaver’s impressive grey, Castello, whose attempt at a daring turn to a huge parallel just failed.
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