13-year-old rider beats 105 combinations
Tichy Sanders, 13, and Camilla Albery’s Sparhanger Velvet saw off 105 other combinations to top the BE90 three-day event at Bicton Arena (18-22 October), securing their place at the 2024 Voltaire Design Grassroots Championships. Tichy is at the end of her second full season of affiliated eventing, having also competed a handful of times at BE80(T) in 2021. “It’s quite surreal really!” Tichy told H&H. “If anyone had said I’d qualify for Badminton, I would definitely not have believed them.”
“This is my passion,” says 17-year-old
A teenager put his half-term holiday to good use when riding his first winner over hurdles. Josh Williamson, 17, rode the Edward O’Grady-trained home-bred Housemartin to victory at Clonmel Racecourse in Co. Tipperary, Ireland, in the Kilclooney Woods (QR) handicap hurdle on Thursday 26 October.
Josh, who was part of the gold medal-winning Irish pony team at the European championships in 2022, was following in the footsteps of his famous father, the legendary Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey Norman Williamson, by riding his first winner at the same track.
Although he has two more years at school, Josh rides out for Gordon Elliott whenever he can and he credits his school for allowing him time away from the classroom when required: “They have been very good to me – there’s an understanding that this is my passion,” he told H&H.
A rare chance to join the Horse & Hound team
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