The 23-year-old former racehorse Steel Blue, who won £109,000 during his career on the track made an appearance in the Tattersalls Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) final with 16-year-old rider Libby Cruttwell at the 2023 Hickstead Derby meeting.
Libby is in her first year of study at Doncaster Equine College, which is based at Rossington National Horseracing College (NHC).
Steel Blue, who is known as Bluebell at home, is one of several former racehorses who live at the college.
“Because of the link to the NHC, we usually gain ex-racers from the college who are in need of a slower pace of life,” said Amanda Butler, an equine lecturer at Doncaster.
Libby was contesting only her fourth ever show. She qualified Bluebell for the RoR final at one of Doncaster Equine College’s on-site shows in May.
During his racing career, Bluebell contested 106 races on the flat, 11 of which he won. He won his first race in Dubai when in training with Simon Whitaker, but he also led races in both France and Germany. He was also a winner at Royal Ascot and he placed in 15 Group or listed races. He retired from the track in 2012.
“He also sustained an awful tendon injury and we thought he might not recover, but thankfully he was given the all-clear last year,” said Amanda. “He’s racing royalty and even the commentator at Hickstead was gobsmacked when reading out his achievements. He gave the judge a great gallop up past the grandstand, despite it being the first time he’s ever taken a ride judge. He really rose to the occasion.”
Bluebell and Libby had a support group with them at Hickstead, including trip leader Rachael Proudley, lead equine studies lecturer at Doncaster, and students from Doncaster College. This year, the students completed a five-mile sponsored ride and had raised £900 in funds to support his journey to Hickstead.
“Although the NHC was right behind us to take the pair to Hickstead, we had limited funds as we are a charity-based organisation,” Amanda explained. “We tried to secure sponsorship but didn’t get any interest. This is when our students stepped in and held a sponsored ride. They went above and beyond and raised £900 between them, which paid for equipment, tack and entries.”
“We only had about three weeks to prepare him for the final, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. Bluebell hadn’t left the campus in 13 years and it would have been unfair to expect him to travel 225 miles without having a few spins in the trailer beforehand. Friends and family stepped in and he spent two weeks at my house. During this time I travelled him to a few yards in between. We took him down to Hickstead the night before so he could acclimatise to the environment. Libby also has limited show experience but she put lots of extra time in and she did us proud.
“Bluebell looked after Libby on the go-round, but when the ride judge got on and asked him to breeze up the Hickstead hill, he did with his ears pricked. It was a very emotional moment for us all.
“You would never believe he’s 23 and that he’s competing in the show ring while still teaching students after such a career on the track. He’s an unbelievable horse.”
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