The first day of Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) ended in a dramatic climax with two riders sharing the spoils in the Addington Equestrian 2019 Ltd talent seekers championship title, incorporating the Brightwells seven-year-old championship.
Jay Halim and Tim Davies secured a joint win in a time of 31.23 seconds in a blistering final round yesterday evening (2 October).
Jay set the time with eight-year-old Aragon Z, owned by Duncan Arthurs, while Tim was last to go with eight-year-old chestnut gelding Lionel Van De Markieslanden, owned by Barrett Watson.
“I grew up admiring Tim and watching him compete, so it is a real honour to share this win with him today,” said Jay.
“Aragon is a special horse and really deserves this win. I unintentionally had an extra stride down the double so I was concerned I had left it open for someone to come in and beat me.
“I was second in this class a few years ago and I thought that the same was going to happen, but thankfully I kept my lead. It’s a childhood dream to win at HOYS so I can finally tick that box and look ahead to what’s next.”
Tim echoed Jay’s words, and said it was an honour to share the win.
“I watched his round and noted his time,” he said. “My horse is quick but when I looked up at the clock I knew straight away that we’d drawn.
“He’s the perfect person to share it with and I’m really pleased for him. I jumped the horse here last year and he was very careful, you just never quite know how they are going to react in the arena.
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“I’ve had [Lionel] since he was four years old and he was a tricky horse but I knew he’d come good. To come here and win with him is just incredible.”
The Brightwells seven-year-old championship went to Green Grass, ridden and owned by Northallerton’s Paul Barker.
Overall the combination came third in the class with a time of 31.36.
For the full report on all the action at HOYS, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday, 10 October.
