One-eyed former racehorse goes from strength to strength in his third career
One-eyed former racehorse An Cathoir continues to thrive, adding new titles to his tally ahead of a first trip to HOYS
One-eyed former racehorse An Cathoir continues to break ground for his owner-rider Victoria Bertorelli, most recently topping the lightweight hunter division at the Royal Welsh and going on to stand reserve hunter champion.
“He’s won the retrained racehorse class twice before,” said Victoria. “We entered the hunters at the last minute as I’ve been nagged for years to give it a whirl.”
Remarkably, this is the thoroughbred 17-year-old’s third career.
“Angus” began working life on the track, but retired after just six runs, and found a second career as a huntsman’s horse.
Victoria bought him in 2020, and began the process of transforming the Turtle Island gelding into the show horse he is today.
It’s not been an easy journey.
“We only managed a total of two outings before he was diagnosed with uveitis, and two months later we made the sad decision to remove his eye,” said Victoria. “In hindsight it was the best decision we ever made.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
Angus “bounced back” only to incur further injury and need a long stint of rehab.
Since these initial setbacks, the pair have gone from strength to strength.
Last term, they won the Retraining of Racehorses amateur series championship at Hickstead, and have already booked their 2027 return pass. They are also set to compete for the first time at Horse of the Year Show in October having qualified at the Royal Three Counties.
“It’s my first ever ticket,” said Victoria, who is currently fitting Angus’ production in around setting up her new bespoke clothing line, ViBe Equestrian. “We’ve been trying for three years and had never been out of the line-up in all our previous attempts.
“But I 100% never thought it would happen. We’ve been pulled top too many times to mention and I always assumed we were dropped due to his eye, so when we were finally brought up to win I ignored the stewards the first time they called me as I didn’t believe they were pointing at me.”
To stay up to date with the latest equestrian news, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website
Bethan joined Horse & Hound as showing editor in January 2025, after spending two years as Editor for Showing World. Having adored ponies since childhood, she started showing as a teenager and has enjoyed wins at major shows up and down the country, including Royal Highland, New Forest, and the Royal Welsh, as well as HOYS, RIHS and London. She is particularly passionate about Welsh breeds and is also a Welsh language commentator.