Katie Magee won the hotly contested Fairfax Saddles British novice championship at the Gatcombe Festival of British Eventing replacement, the NAF Five Star Hartpury International Horse Trials today (11 August).
Riding Sharon Parnaby’s seven-year-old Cushlas Indigo, Katie finished on her 26.3 dressage, which left them second after the first phase, but their speedy double clear secured the win.
“I was a bit surprised to win, to be honest,” laughed Katie. “He’s had a really good season so we were hoping for a top 10 finish in quite a competitive class, so this is a brilliant result.”
Katie has produced Cushlas Indigo up through the grades, with wins at novice level and placings at three-star.
“His owner found him in Ireland and bought him for me to ride,” explained Katie, whose next stop with this son of Imperial Heights is the CCI3*-L at Blair Castle later this month.
“He’s a really lovely character and very straightforward but with enough character and spice to keep it interesting. Has been spooky in his past couple of tests so it was good to get the mark he was capable of this weekend. He’s getting better and better – he does what he needs to do and the bigger the fences, the better he’s getting. He was brilliant last year too and we’ll keep producing him and see where he takes us.”
Hector Payne and the flashy eight-year-old mare Global Lovestory were second on 27.5, while Kirsty Chabert and Hanerina SSF were third on 28.
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British novice championship first phase leaders, New Zealand’s Samantha Lissington and Mr Cookie Time, added 3.2 cross-country time-faults to their 26.1 dressage to finish in seventh.
Of the 50 cross-country starters, 37 jumped clear and 12 completed inside the 5min 59sec optimum time.
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.
