Tina Gifford’s plans for the future

Having narrowly missed out on a place at this year’s Olympic Games in Sydney, Tina has reportedly been considering taking over from her father, racehorse trainer Josh Gifford, at Findon Stables, on the edge of the West Sussex Downs.

But despite her disappointment at not being picked for the Olympics, where her four compatriots took the silver medal, Tina said: ‘I am not planning on taking over my father’s yard at the moment, although I am not going to say that I might not in the future ¨ I am keeping my options open’.

Ranked No 2 in the world at the beginning of the year, just one place behind New Zealander Mark Todd, Tina appeared to be certainty for this year’s Olympics, but set backs in the season running up to the games, including a crashing fall at this year’s Badminton Horse Trials where she was helicoptererd to hospital but luckily was not badly hurt, saw Tina being relegated to first reserve.

Tina said: ‘Sydney was very disappointing as my horse, The Gangster, was in good form – he had gone well the year before and was on good form again this year ¨ I feel disillusioned by the system’. ‘When General Joc was injured last time I thought, well that’s how it goes, but in this situation the horse was in good form and had not done a lot wrong’, she added.

Tina has since had a more promising run of events. Coming second recently at Boekelo on her Irish bred, eight-year-old, bay gelding, Captain Cristy, she said: ‘I was really pleased with him, it was a good end to the season and he is a good prospect for next year’.