The ex-racehorse First Receiver provided The King with a double championship victory on day one of the 2024 Royal Windsor Horse Show as he was crowned 2024 Tattersalls RoR open in-hand champion, as well as Tattersalls thoroughbred ridden show horse series champion.
The seven-year-old gelding began his Windsor campaign when handled to perfection by Chris Hunnable, who produces the horse for the show ring alongside his wife, H&H columnist Katie Jerram-Hunnable, who took the reins less than two hours later to score the victory in ridden ranks.
Katie rode First Receiver to glory in the Racehorse to Riding Horse championship at the Horse of the Year Show in 2021, his first appearance at the prestigious final in his debut season. He was previously owned by his breeder, The Queen, and he qualified for HOYS in 2021 at Burghley Horse Trials, becoming her Majesty’s final show ring winner before she died.
First Receiver is by New Approach and during his time in racing he was trained by Sir Michael Stoute. He has only been very lightly shown and he was last seen at Royal Windsor under-saddle in 2022 when he was just a novice.
“I’ve never galloped him like that before, but I knew I had to go for it,” commented Katie, as she left the ridden championship. “He was just awesome today. I had a really bad ride on him here last year; he was very worried and nervous about everything, so we’ve given him a year out for both him and I to mentally process everything. I came here today with a lot of anticipation and I hope this proves to people that even if you have a wobble, never give up on your ambitions; it was my dream to win this on him, and he’s only gone and done a double-whammy.”
Reserve in the 2024 Tattersalls RoR open in-hand championship was Star Caliber, handled by his owner Barry Smith, who had finished second in the flat section behind First Receiver. This Golden Horn six-year-old ran 19 times during his career, winning once in 2020 at Goodwood.
Joining the flat horses in the 2024 Tattersalls RoR open in-hand championship were the top two exhibits from the national hunt division, Kelly Morgan’s Top Wood, a Kotky Bleu 17-year-old handled by Jasean Spraggett, and Sophie Staveley’s Burnieboozle, a nine-year-old by Frozen Power.
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