New name for eventing’s young horse championships

Eventing’s Breeding Championships, the final of which is held every October at Tweseldown, will have a new name with immediate effect and a new class from next season.

Following a meeting of the British Eventing (BE) sport committee at Stoneleigh on 20 February, the British Breeding Championships will be renamed the PAVO BE Young Horse Championships, and a class for horses aged seven will be added in 2008.

British Eventing hopes the new name will appeal to more people. “We felt we were restricting ourselves with the title,” said a BE spokesman. “There will still be prizes in place for British-bred horses but it made more sense to appeal to people with young horses, not just those interested in breeding.”

Horses need not be British-bred to enter the nationwide series of qualifying competitions, but they must have a proven record of sire and dam to confirm their breeding. The championship is the only competition when four-year-old horses are allowed to compete over a British Eventing track — at intro level (0.90m) — while five-year-olds compete at pre-novice (1.00m), and six-year-olds at novice (1.10m).

The championship final at Tweseldown also features in-hand classes for yearlings, two and three-year-olds and a stallion parade of some of the country’s leading eventing sires. For each age category, the winner receives £1,000 and there is a prize for the best British-bred horse.

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