What this horse of a lifetime lacked in looks as a “toad” of a youngster, says Catherine Austen, he made up for in talent and presence, partnering Zara Tindall to World and European Championship glory

HAS there ever been a more compelling, pressurised two minutes in British horse sport than Zara Tindall’s showjumping round at Aachen in 2006? Here was a 25-year-old member of the royal family with the World Championship title within touching distance.

Her horse, Toytown, was exceptional, but it was no secret that this phase could be his Achilles heel. They were in the most intense atmosphere imaginable, the stadium packed with 40,000 German spectators who had just watched Bettina Hoy secure them team gold. And Zara couldn’t hear the bell.

Zara says: “The judges were using this tiny, tinkly bell. Everyone was going way too far down the arena and missing their start. I thought, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ I made sure I stayed up at the end of the arena where I couldn’t get caught out – but I couldn’t hear the bell anyway, because Bettina had just jumped clear and the crowd was going mad. I was cantering around thinking, ‘Why hasn’t the bell gone…?’ And then I looked at the clock, which had started, and thought ‘No!’

“I was literally flat out – which was probably, in hindsight, a good thing, because I couldn’t get backwards at all; I just had to get on with it.

“In that moment of half-panic, half-pressure, Toytown jumped really well; he just had the middle part of the treble. There were still two to jump, but I just knew he was going to jump them.”

Britain had its first world champion since Ginny Leng 20 years earlier – and eventing had the kind of media attention it hadn’t enjoyed since Zara’s mother, Princess Anne, was competing in the 1970s. Sport is as much about temperament as talent, and Zara and her rangy chestnut partner had both in spades.

TOYTOWN’S competitive career started with Meryl Winter, who bought him as a “wishy-washy, skinny, ugly” four-year-old. He was a “complete toad”, who would “buck, bolt, nap and rear”, Meryl told H&H in 2017. But he took to eventing, as a six-year-old, immediately: “It was just a case of sitting there, thinking where you were going and he’d lock on to the fence.”

He was now worth quite a bit of money and Meryl decided it made financial sense to sell him. Mark Phillips, who had taught Meryl at a clinic, took his 19-year-old daughter Zara to see the horse.

“He looked like an empty coat hanger the first time I saw him, but when I got on him, his movement and his demeanour and his aura were so amazing that you’d look past how weak he appeared muscle-wise,” remembers Zara. “He just had a big frame to fill, but he still floated along, like nothing I’d ever sat on before in my life or probably will again. He had everything. He had the brain for it and he loved his work.”

A “family syndicate” was put together to buy Toytown.

“You don’t see something that moves like that, jumps like that and has that much quality every day,” says Mark. “He was a dressage horse, a racehorse and a jumper – and was rideable. The whole package.”

Toytown “had the wow factor” from the word go, says Zara.

“He was such a performer. He lived for showing off and people looking at him. But he was still so weak, and the showjumping took time. He was so good across country because he could cover the ground and he was quick over a fence, which is the best trait to have – but you need them to bascule a bit more [in the showjumping]. So that was a big process that we went through, getting him stronger to be able to take that time over a fence.”

The pair led the CCI3*-L at Windsor in the autumn of their second season together after dressage and cross-country.

“Then we knocked all the showjumps down!” says Zara. “It was disappointing, but it was always a stepping stone – the best he was going to be was at the top level. I was 21 when I won [the under-25 CCI4*-L at] Bramham in 2002, and that was probably the first time he’d jumped double clear.

“When he stepped up to the bigger tracks, then you absolutely knew. He’d just eat courses up for fun.”

Their first championship was the young rider Europeans at Wiendorf, Germany, in September 2002, where they won individual silver. And after finishing fifth in the CCI4*-L at Luhmühlen in June 2003 – with four showjumps down – they tackled their first CCI5* at Burghley three months later.

There was already a huge buzz about Burghley that year; Pippa Funnell was attempting to become the first person to win the Rolex Grand Slam, having conquered Kentucky and Badminton that spring. Zara’s top-level debut brought added attention, but surely this relatively inexperienced horse and jockey couldn’t win it?

It was the first time many people had seen them and, as “Noddy” – as Toytown was nicknamed – powered across the arena in extended trot, gazes were sharpened and shoulders straightened. Bettina Hoy (Woodsides Ashby) was well out in front at the end of the dressage, with a score of 36, and Pippa, with Primmore’s Pride, was second on 39.4. However, only 2.4 penalties behind in third were Zara and Toytown.

“I loved Burghley and I loved having him there; that was where he was meant to be, that was his big stage,” says Zara.

Burghley’s cross-country course – designed by Zara’s father – is probably the toughest in the world, and 2003 was the final year of the “long format” with roads and tracks and steeplechase phases. The young pair – 10-year-old Toytown and 22-year-old Zara – soared round, looking more like they were galloping round Cheltenham than a vast, technical eventing track.

She says with humour: “I remember getting abuse from my father when I finished because I was too far inside the time [by 23 seconds], but I remember coming down the hill and having no control. He was doing his own thing, like, ‘I’ve got this, I’ve got this!’”

Bettina had a stop – and Pippa collected 2.4 time-penalties. This meant that although they were on the same score going into the showjumping, Zara was in the lead. Whichever of the two British women won, it was going to be a hell of a story.

Pippa jumped clear; Toytown knocked out the final element of the treble; Pippa won the grand slam and Zara was runner-up at her first five-star.

“He jumped a good round and I couldn’t have asked for more, really – but Pippa still owes me!” laughs Zara. “In those days, I was probably mega disappointed, whereas nowadays – with more experience – I’d have been delighted. But when you’re young and you’re coming up the ranks with this amazing horse, you’re not mature enough to look at the positives of it.”

Everyone else could see only the positives. It was the most impressive top-level debut in memory, and exciting new blood for the British team with the Athens Olympics on the horizon.

However, Toytown spent 2004 on the sidelines, having done a leg. He was aimed at the new CCI5* at Luhmühlen in 2005, rather than Badminton, to give him more time.

“Then I had really to manage where I ran him; he was fragile and he had too much movement and always tried 150,000%, which is not a great combination when you’re trying to keep them sound,” says Zara. “If it was bad ground, I’d save him for another day. He was my only horse and he was precious.”

They finished second – to Bettina Hoy on Ringwood Cockatoo – at Luhmühlen, completing on their dressage score, and were selected for the European Championships at Blenheim that autumn.

Again, Bettina led the dressage, with Pippa second on Ensign, and Zara tied in third with Germany’s Frank Ostholt. No one who was there will ever forget the weather on cross-country day at Blenheim in 2005 – torrential, ceaseless rain.

Zara says: “For the first two minutes, he was galloping and shaking his head to get the water out of his ears. It was absolutely awful, but he just got on with it and smashed it. It was the wettest I’ve ever been, I think, in my whole life.”

They finished that day in gold-medal position and had a showjump in hand. Not that they needed it.

“I think I felt quite confident in his jumping there, weirdly. I don’t know why!” says Zara. “We managed to do a double clear at our first senior call-up – and I remember getting my medal, with William Fox-Pitt [individual silver] on one side and Ingrid Klimke [individual bronze] on the other. Mum had been European champion, so it was special.”

Everything the following year, 2006, led to the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen; the first time eventing had taken place at the historic venue.

“The crowd at Aachen is the most knowledgeable you’ll ever ride in front of,” says Zara. “At every point on the cross-country, he pulled it out of the bag. He just wanted to do it.”

Britain had a world champion. Was it possible that Zara and Toytown could do the treble – European, world and Olympic gold medallists?

“I felt that I’d love to go to an Olympics, because he was the best horse in the world, but sadly we didn’t do that,” says Zara.

“I wish I hadn’t gone to the 2007 Europeans [in Pratoni] with him, because I could have saved him and looked after him for the Olympic year in 2008.”

They led after cross-country in Pratoni, but firm, very dry ground had left the great horse sore, and they had a stop in the showjumping. Toytown ran a few more times over the next two seasons, but it was becoming harder to keep him sound and supple. His final event was at home at Gatcombe in 2009. He lived in retirement with Zara until he was 24.

“He was so high-maintenance that he’d only go in the field for a short time and then he’d be at the gate, digging a hole and going, ‘Let me in, I need to be pampered!’” says Zara.” By the end, his feet were becoming a real issue. We did everything we could, but then I looked at him and thought, ‘It’s getting worse; this isn’t a good life for him.’ That last week, having made the decision, was the worst of my life.

“To have one horse like him is what dreams are made of. I was very lucky to have him early in my life; he taught me so much, and I think he would have succeeded in any era of the sport. I really cherished every run we had – he was the perfect cross-country horse, even when he was pulling my arms out!”

Oliver Townend on Toytown

OLIVER was on the British squad with Zara and Toytown at all three of their senior championships.

He says: “Like all exceptional horses, it’s hard to pinpoint just what made him so good; for me they were a partnership who grew up together. I remember him very early on in his career; he was completely genuine and wanted to do his job right. It’s the same with humans: the ones who turn up for work every day, are tough and who really want to do it are the ones you want. Zara knew him inside out and they were great friends; that helped them achieve what they did.”

Toytown’s character

ZARA says: “My friend [Irish event rider] Sherelle Duke died on the Sunday before the World Equestrian Games. I spent most of my time in Aachen in Toytown’s stable with him, and he got me through it. He loved attention so I’d sit in there and he’d put his head on me. If you weren’t quite close enough, he’d yank you back into him. He knew when stuff wasn’t right and he loved being in people’s company.

“He was always on the clock; he knew exactly when he should be fed, and if you hadn’t fed in time he’d kick the door as if to say, ‘Excuse me – I should be fed first, I’m the most important person here!’ He was definitely the king of the yard, the boss. He was a major self-rater. Confidence was not lacking in his personality.”

Mark Phillips on Toytown

WHAT is Mark Phillips’ lasting memory of Toytown? Not that first Burghley, nor Blenheim, nor Aachen.

He says, with an audible wobble in his voice: “The night before he was put down, Zara and I took a couple of bottles of rosé and glasses and just sat with the old horse in his field. I suppose we wanted to say thank you to a horse of a lifetime.

“He was like Columbus, who was the best horse I ever sat on. When you get on the same page as each other, there is nothing you can’t do. You have all the aces in the pack.”

This efeature is also available to read in Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 10 June 2021

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Toytown, who died last week, is known throughout the equestrian world for his individual gold medals with Zara Tindall, but he wasn’t always a saint — in fact, Meryl Connaughton (née Winter), who produced him from a four-year-old until she sold him to Zara and her family says at one stage he was “absolutely lethal”.

At the time when she bought Toytown, Meryl was in her early 20s and based near Hartley Wintney in Hampshire.

“A friend of mine, Ali Hawksworth, phoned up and said she had this really nice horse — she had bought him out of a field and he was really poor, nearly an RSPCA case,” says Meryl. “I went to see him and he was a wishy-washy, skinny, ugly chestnut horse tied up outside the stable, with mane down to his shoulders and no tail because the cows had eaten it. I couldn’t believe I’d driven all the way there to see that.”

Meryl whiled away the time with no desire to ride the horse, but after three cups of coffee she felt she had to see “Noddy” ridden.

“He trotted off and I thought, ‘Flipping heck, this moves.’ My interest was piqued, then he went up over the wings at a little fence and I thought, ‘This will do’,” she remembers.

Meryl had £2,000 in her car at the time, money she’d received from having a horse out on loan, and so she handed that over and put the rest of Toytown’s £4,500 price tag on hire purchase “until my student loan came in”.

‘He was big, strong and lethal’

Back home, Meryl made the “biggest mistake” of putting this big, weak, poor horse out in the field.

“When I brought him back up into work, he was bigger and stronger and he was absolutely lethal. I think he’d been kept poor for a reason by the owner before Ali,” she remembers. “Every day he’d come back to the yard without me having got rid of me somewhere — he’d bolt, buck, nap and rear. I would have sold him, but who’d ride him?”

Having bought the horse in September and brought him back up in January as a five-year-old, Meryl had “six months of hell” with Toytown being “a complete toad” before the turning point.

She explains: “I’d had a particularly horrific ride — I had to cross a busy main road from the school I used and he wouldn’t stop at the road. He bolted and I stayed on, as he bucked and reared all the way home. Eventually, he pulled me off under a tree. I managed to get back on and arrived back at the yard with my watch having been pulled off, in floods of tears, covered in cuts and bruises.

“My farrier was there and sat me down, handed me a cigarette and said, ‘You need this’ , although I don’t smoke. He said, ‘If I met the biggest man in the pub and he beat me up, the next time I saw him I’d buy him a pint.’ This made no sense to me, but he said, ‘You’re never going to beat him, you’ve got to be his friend.’  I thought about that and the next time he started acting up I laughed instead of giving him a kick. He never did anything bad again. It’s a true story and after that he was amazing.”

Meryl started eventing Toytown as a six-year-old and says he was “like a robot across country”.

“It was just a case of sitting there and thinking where you were going and he’d lock onto the fence,” she says.

Then she incurred an injury.

“The bank manager rang and said I had no money,” she remembers. “I was starting to make a name for myself eventing, but everything was resting on this horse and it was so precarious — he was worth quite a lot and could get injured. I decided to look at selling him.”

The ‘if only’ stories

Several riders have “if only” stories to tell about nearly buying Toytown. Lucinda Green said Meryl could “phone me back when he’s less expensive”, Bridget and Katie Parker tried him, but didn’t think he was good enough and made a low offer. The horse was based with Meryl’s trainer Keith Doyle at one stage and Keith told William Funnell he had a horse that would suit Pippa, but she never made it over to try him. After he won the World Championships in 2006, Keith told William that was the horse he kept telling William — his reply was unprintable.

Funnily enough, Meryl’s account of how Toytown was actually bought for Zara differs a little from Mark Phillips’, which has become the stuff of legend. Mark recalls spotting the horse at a clinic and asking Meryl to let him know if she ever wanted to sell, Meryl says Mark had trained her on another horse, so she wondered if he might be interested in him when she came to sell, thinking of him for an American client as Mark was trainer to the US team at the time.

Whichever way, Zara and Toytown came together and, as Mark says, “The rest is history.”

“Zara kept me informed and I really enjoyed following Toytown,” says Meryl. “I wrote to her after the World Championships and said thank you — I always knew how good he was and it was very satisfying to see that justified.”

Continued below…

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Meryl now lives in Co. Roscommon, Ireland and is “flat out” working as an horse-finding agent, with her clients including Sam Griffiths and Nick Gauntlett. She also has three children — baby Cara, four-year-old Fergus and eight-year-old Rory.

“I’m lucky that Noddy set me up — plan A was to ride myself, but plan B was to produce and source horses and I’d like to think I could source horses who could replicate what he did,” she says. “Noddy taught me you can’t ride in a domineering way — that you’ve got to get horses on side and be a team. But I definitely wouldn’t have got there without my farrier’s wise words!”

Read a full Toytown tribute, including memories from Yogi Breisner, Daisy Berkeley and Jeanette Brakewell, in today’s issue of Horse & Hound magazine (6 July 2017) 

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Following the sad news that Zara Tindall has said her final farewell to her marvellous equine partner Toytown, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane to look back at some of his career highlights — and remind ourselves why he was such a legend of the eventing world.

Toytown’s career in pictures

Retiring at Gatcombe Horse Trials, 2011

Zara officially retired Toytown in a parade at Gatcombe Horse Trials in 2011 when the gelding was 18 years old.

“Toytown is my horse of a lifetime and he has given me more than I could ever have dreamed of. It seemed fitting to give him a proper retirement ceremony at home, at Gatcombe Park,” she said at the time.

Watch our archive video marking Toytown’s retirement…

Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, 2015

Zara and Toytown in great form as they led the ‘parade of champions’ at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials.

Cheltenham racecourse, 2012

The pair carried the Olympic torch when the relay arrived at Cheltenham racecourse, Gloucestershire ahead of the London 2012 Games.

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European eventing championships, Italy, 2007

Zara and Toytown were part of the gold medal-winning European eventing championship team in Pratoni. The pair were in contention for an individual medal, but problems in the showjumping dropped them to sixth.

World Equestrian Games, Aachen, 2006

Zara and Toytown clinched the individual gold medal at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, as well as the team silver.

European eventing championships, Blenheim, 2005

On her senior team debut at the European championships at Blenheim, Zara took the individual and team gold medals with Toytown.

Burghley Horse Trials, 2003

Zara proved she was a force to be reckoned with at senior level by finishing second at Burghley in 2003 with Toytown. She led overnight but a single fence down in the showjumping let Pippa Funnell win and claim the Rolex Grand Slam. The previous year Zara and Toytown won the under-25 championships at Bramham.

At home, Gloucestershire

The towering Toytown relaxes at home with Zara at Gatcombe Park.

Don’t miss H&H’s full tribute to this special horse, on sale Thursday 6 July

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

“Heartbroken” Zara Tindall has said goodbye to her star campaigner Toytown, who has died aged 24.

The distinctive chestnut gelding with his signature white spots took Zara from young riders to the top of the senior stage.

In a statement released this morning (28 June) Zara said: “I’m heartbroken to say that yesterday morning I had to say goodbye to my greatest friend and horse of a lifetime, Toytown. He was the most incredible athlete with the biggest heart, European and World champion back to back!

“He made my career and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for the amazing times we had together — he was a huge part of my family, an amazing animal and a true champion.

“I will miss you for ever.”

The combination collected their first championship medal at the 2002 young rider eventing Europeans, where they picked up individual silver.

The following year they won the under-25s at Bramham and finished second at their first CCI4* attempt at Burghley Horse Trials.

The pair were longlisted for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but injury ruled the talented gelding out for the rest of the year.

They then went on to post some of Britain’s best results at senior championships in recent years.

Continued below…

RIP Toytown: why he holds such a special place in our hearts

Horse & Hound looks back through our picture archives at a number of Toytown’s career highlights

Monbeg Dude to retire with Zara Tindall’s Toytown at Gatcombe

The Welsh Grand National winner will enjoy his retirement at Gatcombe Park

Zara Phillips and Toytown to carry Olympic torch

Head to Cheltenham racecourse tomorrow for the chance to see Zara Phillips and Toytown carrying the Olympic flame

In 2005 they took individual and team gold at the Europeans at Blenheim, following this up with an individual gold and team silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games at Aachen.

The combination helped the British team win team gold at the 2007 Europeans in Italy.

They were selected for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but injury struck again in the run-up to the Games.

Zara’s husband, former England rugby player Mike Tindall, paid tribute to Toytown on Twitter last night (27 June).

The ever-popular Toytown retired from competition aged 18 in an emotional ceremony at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe in 2011.

“Toytown is my horse of a lifetime and he has given me more than I could ever have dreamed of,” Zara said at the time.

“It seemed fitting to give him a proper retirement ceremony at home, at Gatcombe Park.”

Since then he has paraded at Blenheim to mark the event’s 25th anniversary and carried the Olympic torch in 2012.

Last year, Toytown was ridden by Zara during the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations at Windsor Horse Show.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

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Monbeg Dude, the 2013 Welsh Grand National winner, has been retired from racing and is set to enjoy his post-racing days alongside Zara Tindalls’ former top eventer Toytown.

The 11-year-old had returned to training at Michael Scudamore’s Herefordshire yard after 12 months on the sidelines. It was hoped he would make it back to the racecourse during this year’s National Hunt season.

“He picked up a tendon injury after finishing third in the Grand National last year,” Michael told H&H.

“He’d had a year off and we brought him back into training, but it flared up again. We could have given him more time off but at his age, to ask him to come back, would have been unfair on the horse.

“It was a tough decision because he’s been a flag-bearer for the yard, but he doesn’t owe anyone anything,” he added.

“He will be kept active during his retirement and will be in the field with Toytown at Gatcombe Park.”

During his seven-year career on the racecourse, the son of Witness Box not only won the big race at Chepstow but also racked up three Grade Three triumphs at Cheltenham.

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He also produced impressive runs in both the Grand National and the 2014 Hennessy Gold Cup — finishing in the placings both times behind eventual winner Many Clouds.

He was ridden to victory in the Welsh Grand National by Paul Carberry, but was also regularly ridden by Michael’s brother Tom Scudamore.

Owned by a syndicate of four called Oydunow — including his trainer Michael and Zara’s husband Mike Tindall — the gelding will have a home for life at the Gloucestershire estate, Gatcombe Park, where the annual Festival of British Eventing is held.

Toytown, the former world and European eventing champion under Zara, was retired from the sport in 2011. Now aged 23, the popular gelding enjoys hacking around the Gloucestershire countryside and it won’t be long until his new companion joins him.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Zara Phillips and Toytown are to parade at Blenheim Palace next month (17-20 September).

The pair were crowned European eventing champions at Blenheim in 2005, and will return to the site of their victory to show off for fans.

Zara and Toytown will be heading a “parade of champions” as part of Blenheim’s 25-year anniversary celebrations on the Sunday afternoon of the event (20 September).

“We are delighted to have Toytown and Zara at Blenheim this year,” said event director Mandy Hervieu.

“Toytown is one of the most famous, best-loved event horses of all time and we hope that spectators will enjoy the chance to see him once more.”

The chestnut gelding with distinctive markings was a popular figure in the eventing world.

Toytown is now 22 and spends his retirement at Zara’s Gloucestershire based. He was retired at Gatcombe in 2011.

“Toytown is my horse of a lifetime and he has given me more than I could ever have dreamed of,” Zara said at the time.

Known as “Noddy”, the gelding moved to Zara as a seven-year-old.

The pair won the under-25 championships at Bramham in 2002. They then finished second at Burghley in 2003 and two years later Zara made her senior team debut, winning individual and team gold on home ground at the Blenheim Europeans. She and Toytown followed this up by claiming the world title and team silver at Aachen in 2006.

Sadly due to injury he was unable to contest an Olympics, missing Athens 2004 and Hong Kong 2008.

Zara, who is hoping to be part of Britain’s team at the Rio Olympics in 2016, will be competing at the Oxfordshire event in the CIC3* class for eight-and-nine-year-olds.

She will be riding Watkins, a nine-year-old thoroughbred gelding, who started his career in New Zealand and joined Zara’s team this year.

The pair finished eighth in their first CCI2* at Camphire in Ireland recently and this will be their first attempt at three-star level.

Picture by Kit Houghton

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The likelihood is that the new royal baby girl will have a fair amount of toys heading her way to celebrate her long awaited arrival. But if she’s anything like her polo-loving father, eventing legend great aunt or racing-mad great granny, our pick of horsey toys will be the only ones that she is actually interested in playing with.

And with so many of the world’s equine stars now immortalised as toys — most recently Valegro — there couldn’t be a better way to get the new baby familarised with the big names of our sport. The only problem will be keeping Prince George’s hands off his younger sister’s toys…

1. A Toytown rocking horse

What better way to give the new baby a subtle hint that eventing is in the blood than by splashing out on this rocking horse version of Zara Phillips‘ Toytown? Even his white spots have been faithfully reproduced.

Visit: www.rockinghorses.uk.net

2. A Mistral Hojris Breyer toy

This Breyer model of dressage sensation Laura Tomlinson‘s (née Bechtolsheimer) Olympic gold medallist Mistral Hojris will be a helpful reminder to the baby girl of Britain’s success at the London 2012 Olympic Games in years to come.

Visit: www.breyerhorses.com

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3. A Denman jigsaw puzzle

This Denman puzzle from the Injured Jockeys Fund is one to be tucked away in the cupboard for the new baby to play with when she’s older. But it will be worth the wait when she can spend hours piecing together the National Hunt star.

Visit: shop.ijf.org.uk

4. A Frankel Breyer toy

Honour the unbeaten racehorse with a Breyer model. When the baby girl is old enough to know that the Sir Henry Cecil-trained Frankel won all 14 out of 14 starts, she will be glad to have this legend among her toys.

Visit: www.breyerhorses.com

5. A Black Caviar soft toy

Black Caviar in her soft toy format will make the perfect companion as the baby girl has sweet dreams about the superstar mare soaring past the finishing line.

Visit: www.blackcaviarshop.com.au

Diclaimer: Please note that these toys may not be suitable for new born babies.

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Former eventing Europeans and world champions Zara Phillips and Toytown were the final bearers of the Olympic torch for the day yesterday, 23 May, when the flame reached Cheltenham racecourse.

Towntown, who was formally retired last year, looked well as he and Zara were greeted by more than 16,500 people at the course.

But as Zara got ready to light her torch from that of the previous bearer the 20-year-old chestnut gelding took fright causing Zara to drop her unlit torch and the Princess Royal to grab hold of his bridle.

Eventually an assistant lit the torch for Zara and handed it back to her.

She then rode up the home straight and, as the final torchbearer of the day, dismounted and lit a cauldron on the stage.

“I was unbelievable – I’m shaking. It’s a massive honour to do it,” Zara told the crowd, adding: “it was a bit dodgy at the start but we did it.”

She also intimated that the torch is quite heavy. “It’s not too heavy when you pick it up but if you’re carrying it for a little while you can feel a little burn in your bicep,” she said.

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Zara Phillips is to carry the Olympic torch riding her World and European Championship-winning partner Toytown when the relay arrives at Cheltenham racecourse tomorrow (Wednesday 23 May).

The Queen’s granddaughter, whose mother the Princess Royal received the Olympic flame in Greece last week, will ride the last leg of the day at the Gloucestershire course.

Toytown, who was officially retired from eventing last year but who has not competed since 2009, will parade the length of the Cheltenham finishing straight.

Zara will then light a cauldron the mark the end of day five of the relay.

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Zara Phillips multi medal-winning eventing partner, Toytown, will be officially retired at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe this weekend. H&H eventing editor Pippa Roome looks back on the career of this remarkable event horse.

Zara Phillips will officially retire Toytown on the final day of the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park, Sunday, 7 August.

The 18-year-old former world and European champion will be paraded in the main arena at 1.45pm to allow his fans to pay tribute.

Zara, who marries England rugby player Mike Tindall this weekend in Scotland, said: “Toytown is my horse of a lifetime and he has given me more than I could ever have dreamed of. It seemed fitting to give him a proper retirement ceremony at home, at Gatcombe Park.”

With numerous achievements over the past decade, Toytown is undoubtedly one of the best event horses of all time. A fabulous dressage and cross-country horse, he only showed a chink in his armour occasionally in the showjumping.

For many fans the major sadness is that his career was interrupted by injury, meaning he never had the chance to contest an Olympic Games, missing Athens 2004 and Hong Kong 2008.

Toytown will enjoy his retirement hacking out in the Gloucestershire countryside and grazing at home on the Gatcombe Estate, where “he will be thoroughly spoiled”, according to his rider.

Career path

Zara’s father, H&H columnist Mark Phillips spotted “Noddy” as a gangly seven-year-old with his owner at the time, Meryl Winter, at a Pony Club instructor’s seminar and the horse was bought a few months later.

Zara’s first major achievement with the chestnut was winning the under-25 championships at Bramham in 2002. They went on take the individual silver medal at the young rider Europeans the same year.

Zara proved she was a force to be reckoned with at senior level by finishing second at Burghley in 2003 — she led overnight but her single fence down let Pippa Funnell win and claim the Rolex Grand Slam.

Two years later, Zara made her senior team debut, winning individual and team gold on home ground at the Blenheim Europeans. She and Toytown followed this up by claiming the world title and team silver at Aachen in 2006.

Zara was in the running for an individual medal at the European Championships at Pratoni in 2007, but problems in the showjumping dropped her to sixth, though the team still won gold.

Toytown’s last competition was the open intermediate at “Little” Gatcombe in September 2009, where he jumped a steady double clear.

In all, he accumulated 1421 British Eventing points.

Pictures of Zara and Toytown

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With Zara Phillips’ world champion Toytown out of action and her chances of making the World Equestrian Games (WEG) uncertain, she is now focusing on the 2012 Olympics.

“At the moment, all four of Toytown’s legs are keeping us from making plans,” said Zara. “He is in light work and he loves it, but he doesn’t owe me anything.”

While her other four-star contenders, Glenbuck and new ride Poilu (formerly ridden by Clayton Fredericks), are entered for Badminton Horse Trials in April, she is not hopeful that she will be attending WEG to defend her title.

“If we get good results this year and do get to the Worlds then that will be a bonus, but I wouldn’t say the chances are massive — there are a lot of good combinations at the moment,” said Zara.

“Glenbuck probably wouldn’t showjump well enough for WEG, as his stride is so long, and Poilu and I need some time to get to know each other,” she added.

“He can get quite tense at competitions.”

Zara admits to struggling with the loss of Toytown as her top horse, but is now aiming the rest of her string at London 2012.

“Toytown was definitely a one off. I’ve had to re-train myself, because you can’t expect every horse to go like him,” she said.

“All the horses are working to get to Olympic level and be good enough for 2012, but in horse time it’s still a long way away. A lot can happen before then.”

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Zara Phillips and Toytown will start as number 106 at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (7-10 May) this year.

This means the world champions will do their dressage at the end of the final session on Friday and will be one of the last combinations to run across country on Saturday.

Zara’s other ride, Ardfield Magic Star, is number 10, but will be the eighth (or earlier, depending on withdrawals) to start as Georgie Spence and Paul Tapner both have double entered horses in the early numbers — these horses are both allocated numbers, but the rider can only actually start on one of them.

One hundred and eleven horses have been given numbers, but only 85 will actually start the event — as well as the extra double entered horses, all 19 horses still on the waiting list are in the draw, but they will only participate if others are withdrawn.

William Fox-Pitt is the pathfinder on last year’s Luhmühlen winner Macchiato, while his other ride Idalgo is number 104.

Badminton final scores

Emily Llewellyn, the youngest rider at 20 years old, is number 89 with Society Spice, while New Zealand’s comeback king Mark Todd has an early draw — he is number 28 with NZB Gandalf.

Don’t miss H&H’s full Badminton preview in the issue on sale 30 April, including course walk with Ian Stark, great Badminton horse heroes, shopping and more.

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Reigning world champions Zara Phillips and Toytown are among the accepted entries for this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (7-10 May).

Zara has also entered Ardfield Magic Star, who finished 19th at the event last year.

Many spectators will be particularly eager to see Zara and Toytown (pictured) tackle the famous cross-country course for the first time. The chestnut, European champion in 2005 and world champion in 2006, started at Badminton in 2007, but was one of a number of horses withdrawn before the cross-country due to the ground.

Other stars entered for Badminton include William Fox-Pitt (Idalgo and Macchiato), 2007 winners Lucinda Fredericks and Headley Britannia, and last year’s runner-up Lucy Wiegersma, who will hope to go one better this time with Shaabrak.

Eighty-six horses have been accepted for Badminton, with a waiting list of 44. The ballot is done on the basis of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) points horses have won at three- and four-star level over the past two years.

Badminton final scores

Combinations on the waiting list replace those who withdraw up to 6pm on the Monday before the event starts (4 May).

Read Tina Cook’s thoughts on the Badminton entries in her column in next week’s Horse & Hound, out 2 April

Badminton accepted entries

Badminton waiting list

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Eventer Zara Phillips has withdrawn top horse Toytown (pictured) from the World Cup qualifier at Fontainebleau, France, this weekend due to a bruised foot.

The 15-year-old gelding, Zara’s partner in winning the 2006 World Championship and the 2005 European Eventing Championship, is one of Britain’s major hopes for the Olympics in Hong Kong this summer.

Zara will still ride Ardfield Magic Star and Glenbuck at Fontainebleau, alongside around 10 other British entries.

For full report from Fontainebleau, see 3 April issue of Horse & Hound.

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Toytown, Zara Phillips’s world champion ride, came face-to-face with his wooden doppelganger after Stevenson Bros of Kent immortalised him as a rocking horse in aid of Britain’s Olympic equestrian teams and the Countryside Alliance (CA).

The one-off model of the chestnut gelding may only stand a few hands high, but it has captured his trademark white flecks and wide blaze, and boasts Toytown’s real mane and tail hair and one of his brow bands.

It will be one of 18 exclusive lots to be auctioned at the Cheltenham Countryside Raceday on Friday (16 November).

Model maker Marc Stevenson said: “I love Toytown, he’s such a fantastic horse — who could ask for a better model?”

Another Stevenson rocking horse recently raised £30,000 when auctioned for charity, but Marc expects Toytown to raise even more.

“Both Team GBR and the CA are brilliant causes and the more money we raise, the more gold medals we may win in Hong Kong,” he said.

Members of Team GBR will also be at the event, with prospective members of the squad for the Beijing Olympics — including Zara, Mary King, William Fox-Pitt, Carl Hester, Ellen Whitaker and Anne Dunham — mingling with the crowds.

The 2007 season brought nine team medals for Team GBR, including team gold for British eventers at senior, young rider, junior and pony European level, and team bronze plus young rider and pony gold in show jumping.

Last year the Countryside Raceday raised £200,000, and 25% of funds raised this year will go to Team GBR. For tickets telephone the box office or visit the website. Tel: 01242 226226 or log on to www.cheltenham.co.uk

Advanced bids for the Toytown rocking horse can be made by contacting Stevenson Bros. Tel: 01233 820363

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now