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Classy Nugget seizes last-gasp victory to take retrained racehorse crown at Gatcombe

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • Gold Nugget, a racehorse which failed to fire on the track in three runs, is excelling in his new career, landing Gatcombe Horse Trials’ retrained racehorse championship at the Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing.

    “He’s just been a really good little fella,” said Andrew. “He’s a game horse who just wants to do his job.”

    The format of this RoR/NTF-sponsored class is a regular horse trials of dressage, showjumping and cross-country at intermediate novice level, to give a top-10 which showjump again in reverse order for the title. It’s quite a demanding format for any horse to showjump twice, but perhaps particularly for an ex-racer who is naturally more predisposed to jump flat after going cross-country. Today (Sunday, 7 August), was the final showjumping round.

    Gatcombe Horse Trials retrained racehorse championship: placings

    Tom McEwen was bidding for his second championship of the weekend, having already taken the intermediate title, with his ride Magdalena Gut’s Dream Big leading throughout the first three phases on his dressage score of 31.1. However, Andrew Downes and Golden Nugget were breathing down their necks 0.6 of a penalty behind coming into the showjumping final. When “Nugget” jumped clear, the pressure was on and Dream Big lowered one rail to slip to second.

    Hector Payne and Tom Dillinger were third, adding just 0.4 of a time-fault across country to their dressage of 35.6.

    Nick and Jane Moss’s Gold Nugget finished last on two of his three racing runs, but switched to eventing at five with Andrew. He was already advanced by the age of seven, and is established now at four-star aged 12. But Andrew said that this didn’t mean today’s task was straightforward.

    “He’s a thoroughbred, and so he can go in and jump a clear round at four-star, or he can have two down at novice,” he said.

    It was due recompense for Andrew after suffering a broken cheekpiece during one of his rounds in the Dodson & Horrell British novice championship yesterday (Saturday, 6 August) and being forced to pull up.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on dogs of all shapes and sizes. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs, one a street dog from Gambia who was abandoned at three weeks old. Now, her constant companion, whether by her feet at her desk or walking cross-country courses, is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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