Oliver Hood and Catherine Dickens’ Carters Top Gun gave a faultless performance in the 2025 cob of the year championship at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) to land the title, sponsored here by the Harrod and Coles Family.
The victory came less than 12 hours after he took the first tricolour of the day, the maxi cob championship astride Indigo Jones but most notably, it was Team Hood’s 100th lap of honour and centre-line moment at HOYS, a testament to the family’s incredible influence on the showing industry.
Oliver said: “At the beginning of the week, I felt I was coming here with one of the best teams of horses I’ve had in a long time. You hope that something good will happen, but you never know, and two in one day is just phenomenal.”
Known as “Alfie” at home, the twice Royal International (RIHS) cob champion and 2024 reserve supreme has also twice stood champion at the Hickstead Derby Meeting, but a win here has always eluded him.
“He’s won most major competitions and he’s been second and third here before so we were wondering had we missed our chance, but you keep going, keep persevering and hope you have your day,” said Oliver.
Alfie was started by Robbie Hague at Buttons Farm, from where Oliver’s late father, the great showman Allister Hood steered Team Hood to dizzying heights.
“He’s probably one of the last horses that my father had started there,” reflected Oliver, making the triumph all the more poignant.
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In complete contrast to the “nervous” Indigo Jones, Oliver said that Alfie is “one if the most laid-back horses” on the yard.
“You wouldn’t believe it, but at 12 o’clock the girls turn off the radio and it’s like clockwork: he has a siesta. You can hear him snoring from the other stables.”
Oliver’s wife, Amelia, was also in the supreme having piloted Firespell (Harris) to second place in the heavyweights.
“Again, what a special day to have us both in the championship,” commented Oliver. “Harris has been the gift that just keeps on giving. If we’re having a bad day, Harris is the one that picks us up. But today he’s given Amelia a fantastic ride and just been phenomenal.”
Reserve 2025 cob of the year for another “Alf”
Kevin Lee aboard Gillian Eaton’s charming blue and white Ad Blue (Alf), winner of the morning’s Harrod and Coles Family lightweight cob contest, was called forward as the reserve in the 2025 cob of the year championship.
The now seven-year-old gelding made his first trip to HOYS last year, at the end of what was his novice season, which started, according to Kevin, when the pair “wobbled around” their first novice class last April. The season ended with the pair claiming fourth place in not only the lightweight cobs but the coloureds, too, having booked their spots in both finals at Moreton in Marsh.
“This year we qualified for the cobs at the Great Yorkshire, and the coloureds at Derbyshire Festival,” said Kevin. “We were reserve supreme at the CHAPS [Coloured Horse and Pony Society] championships and the CHAPS Spring Show. He’s not really done a great deal other than that!”
Kevin continued: “This win meant the absolute world. It’s something you dream of for years and years and years – you think, ‘If only…’ I always thought I could potentially do it on him, but I never thought it would actually happen this year.”
Owner Gillian bought Alf three years ago from Ireland: “I just saw his picture, then they sent me a video and I thought, ‘Why not?’” And the rest, as they say, is history.
Kevin described Alf, so named after Gillian’s late father, as “an absolute pleasure”.
“He’s just a jolly, happy person. He loves the ring, he loves his job. He goes in and he always tries his best and I could never fault him; he’s always willing.
“We mainly hack. We’ll school once, maybe twice, a week during show season. But all winter we’ll hack and we do some polework. He’s very easy-going, he only takes 10 minutes working in; he had no working in before going in tonight, that’s how straightforward he is.”
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Bethan joined Horse & Hound as showing editor in January 2025, after spending two years as Editor for Showing World. Having adored ponies since childhood, she started showing as a teenager and has enjoyed wins at major shows up and down the country, including Royal Highland, New Forest, and the Royal Welsh, as well as HOYS, RIHS and London. She is particularly passionate about Welsh breeds and is also a Welsh language commentator.
