Zara Tindall crowned British open champion 20 years on from winning her Aachen world title – with a quite different chestnut gelding

Zara Tindall became the 2026 British open champion when she won the amalgamated NAF CCI4*-S/British Open aboard Class Affair, beating a field of 73 at the NAF Hartpury International Celebration of Eventing & British National Championships.

This speedy pair clocked up the fastest time of the day over Eric Winter’s influential cross-country course for just 0.4 of a penalty. This saw them fly through the ranks following a dressage test that had originally left them outside of the top 10.

This was a first British open title for the Gloucestershire-based rider despite her having contested this prestigious class several times in the past when it ran on her mother, the Princess Royal’s Gatcombe Park estate, where Zara is also based.

The 17-year-old Irish-bred Class Affair has been a solid three-day campaigner, finishing 12th at Defender Bramham last year and completing Mars Badminton and Pau five-star in 2024.

“Amazing,” was how the former World and European Champion summed up her first major victory since she won an advanced class at Chatsworth in 2022 with Kathryn Revitt’s Class Affair, who she terms “tricky” and “probably one of the hardest horses I’ve ever ridden”.

“He’s super talented and very capable, but he doesn’t always do the thing you want him to do. He can go against you. You ask him to go faster, and he’s like ‘no, I don’t want to go faster’, and then when you want to slow down for a fence, he goes, ‘no, sorry’ and sticks his head in the air,” explained Zara.

Kathryn, who was at Hartpury to see her horse win, purchased the Irish-bred gelding with the late Trevor Hemmings for Zara to ride after the latter found him in Ireland and kick-started his eventing campaign in 2017.

As well as his quirks under saddle, Class Affair is also not very sociable around people. “He’s a funny soul, but I love him,” said Zara.

A close second in British open championship

Max Warburton and Timothy Paske’s 12-year-old Deerpairc Revelry, who was bred to showjump, followed hot on Zara’s heels and ended up less than one penalty away in second place on the British open championship leaderboard.

Suffering from bridesmaid’s syndrome, they had also taken the runner-up slot just over a month ago in Aston-Le-Walls’s CCI4*-S.

This time the 12-year-old was somewhat ‘hot’ during the first phase, which probably cost him the class. “He’s ready for Burghley and so he’s fit,’ explained Max, who took on the ride from Leilia Paske in 2022.

“He originally came to be sold on. He’s not naturally a blood horse and it’s taken a while to get his breathing and galloping right, but he’s since gone from strength to strength and I'm hopeful for a good autumn.”

The familiar teal cross-country colours sported by Izzy Taylor could be seen flying around Hartpury’s undulations aboard the eye-catching dapple grey SBH Big Wall, who was previously in Oliver Townend’s stable.

It was only a third run of the season for the 11-year-old by Puissance, who stopped the clock nine seconds over the 7min optimum, giving them a total score of 35.1.

“It’s been an odd season and I’m a bit rusty. In a few places on the cross-country I wasn’t as brave as I would usually be, but he was very kind to me,” said Izzy, for whom 2026 has been a season of two halves. She was absent from the competitive fray for three months after breaking her left leg in a fall at home in March.

Sarah Bullimore and Corimiro were fourth, with Kiwi James Avery and Dallas 13 fifth.

British open riders who fell by the wayside

Others in with a chance of claiming the trophy after the showjumping, who fell foul of the cross-country clock and slipped down the order, included Yasmin Ingham and Kinda Corvette, and Bubby Upton with K.

A showjumping leading score of 27.9 came to nothing for Jesse Campbell and his 12-year-old Strzegom CCI-L 4* winner Speedwell who were eliminated at fence 16a, the NAF Triple Brush.

Another rider well placed before they left the third phase start box – Ireland’s Suzie Berry – also had her hopes dashed at fence 16, where John The Bull ran out twice.

Emily King and her seasoned campaigner Valmy Biats relinquished their dressage lead of 26.4 with a single rolled rail in the showjumping phase, after which they withdrew.

There was a hold on course while vets attended Caroline Powell’s mount Tik Tok, who took a tumble at fence 12, the NAF All You Need Corners. He was later reported to be well enough to be transported back to the New Zealander’s Suffolk base.

• To read the full report from the NAF Hartpury International Celebration of Eventing & British National Championships, pick up a copy of Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 20 August.
• To stay up to date with the latest eventing news and reports, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website