Horse of the Year Show wild cards claimed at Rowallan

Jo Pay and Jemma Kirk earned their international places at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) by heading the points table at Rowallan’s wild-card qualifier at the weekend.

Essex-based Jo has spent much of the season competing abroad and took the opening day’s qualifier in grand style with Goodmans For Fun. She and the 13-year-old gelding then finished third and sixth in the remaining two sections to ensure they headed the points table, thus adding their names to the list of British riders heading to HOYS.

“It’s been reward for stepping up a level over the season and, although we’ve missed out a bit at home, all the experience abroad has paid dividends,” said Jo.

Jemma Kirk, from Bo’ness, bounced back from a disappointing first day to finish second and fourth in the remaining qualifiers riding Wexford. She finished on equal points with Graham Lovegrove (Tin Tin) but took the second wild-card courtesy of her higher placing in the grand prix.

The final HOYS wild-card qualifiers will be held at Arena UK (21-26 September).

Don’t miss this week’s Horse & Hound (out 16 September) for the full report from Rowallan.

• For more info about HOYS, including how to buy tickets, visit www.hoys.co.uk

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now