A former racehorse turned grade A showjumper who was given to his retrainer was crowned The Jockey Club Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) horse of the year.
Master Wickham joined Claire Lewis in 2015, after retiring from racing, and has gone from strength to strength in his second career. The pair have enjoyed success in the Olympic disciplines, showing and the now 16-year-old gelding even kept his cool during a tack mishap in a musical fancy dress ride.
“When we got him, we didn’t really have any expectations,” said Claire, in a video shown during the awards, held on Cheltenham’s Festival Trials day (25 January).
“But since he’s learned to enjoy the outside world, he’s gone on to such incredible things and taken me to all these places you dream about.”
“Darsi” has competed at the grassroots championships at Badminton multiple times, and also shown what former racehorses can go on to achieve in a variety of classes at major shows, including at Bramham, Blenheim and Hickstead.
“He loves competing. He absolutely thrives on the attention. The bigger the show, the better,” said Claire, adding that Darsi’s ability to learn is what makes him so special.
“He’s so quick. I show him something once – an exercise or a grid – and then he’s read the textbook, written the textbook, and flown up it.”
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They have been to numerous showjumping finals, including winning the 2021 RoR Bronze League at the British Showjumping National Championships and scoring placings at the Blue Chip Winter Showjumping Championships.
Claire recalled the “crazy” moment of hearing Lucinda Green commentating on Master Wickham’s round at the CCI*-intro class at Aston-le-Walls last year – and hearing the voice she remembers from playing the eventing computer game Equestriad as a child, but this time commenting on her own round in real life.
She also shared the fond memory of parading him “among all these lovely horses” during the Grand National meeting at Aintree in 2024.
“He’s opened up opportunities I’ve never dreamt of ever having,” said Claire, going on to share a musical performance she did with him.
“We dressed him up as a teddy bear for the teddy bears’ picnic, and my stirrup snapped in the first 10 seconds. I did the entire routine one-handed with a flag [in the other], going over picnic blankets and all sorts, in front of an evening crowd who were all cheering and clapping – with one stirrup!
“Ok, it’s not Mark Todd jumping around Badminton, but for a racehorse to be able to do that… on my dressage sheet it said ‘I think he could have been a police horse’ – that just sums him up. Anything is possible with this guy.”
The three other finalists were Amroth Bay and Sophie Kington, Evron and Stella Bunn, and Second Brook and Lesley Sayers.
A judging panel selected the horse of the year finalists, with the winner decided by public vote.
The Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust RoR Community Impact Award went to HEROS founder Grace Muir.
The winners of the RoR elite awards were:
RoR elite dressage champion – Tapaidh Frankie, owned and ridden by Tracy Thirlwall
RoR elite polo champion – Dark Hedges, owned and ridden by Matt Perry
RoR elite endurance champion – Art Mauresque, owned and ridden by Hayley Gilmore
Tattersalls RoR elite showing champion – Minella Rebellion, owned and ridden by Katie Dashwood
RoR Tattersalls supreme champion (showing) – Gentleman at Arms, owned and ridden by Harriet Edmunds
RoR elite eventing champion – Bayaanaatt, part-owned and ridden by Izzy Taylor
RoR elite showjumping champion – The Iron Factor, owned and ridden by Jessie Welch
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
