2019’s British Open Championship winner Jonelle Price, with class sponsor Katie Page-Harvey, president of Magic Millions, and HRH Princess Anne (right) who owns Gatcombe Park where the event is held. Photo by Libby Law.
One of the most exciting Advanced events in the UK – by my reckoning, anyway – is this week’s Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing, held in the capacious estate of Gatcombe Park, home to one Princess Anne. While the setting is fittingly pretty, that’s not even close to what makes this competition so exciting – that honour, instead, goes to the terrain afforded by the park’s natural amphitheatre. The courses – from Novice upwards – crisscross these not at all insignificant peaks and valleys in a way that’s both totally spectator-friendly (you can see most of the course from your chosen picnic spot!) and truly influential. Catching the time here is seriously hard, and you’ll want to come prepared off the back of plenty of fitness work if you fancy a chance of catching one of the titles.
Foremost among those titles, which include accolades for retrained racehorses in their own dedicated section, is the British Open Championship. Formerly held at CCI4*-S, but now run at National Advanced level, it used to be one of the most exciting fixtures on the Event Rider Masters and continues to draw a truly top-class field of entries as riders battle for top honours.
Gemma Tattersall and Arctic Soul take the British Open Championship in 2017. Photo courtesy of Event Rider Masters.
So who’s coming forward for this weekend’s renewal of the event, which will see the Open class tackle its jumping phases on Sunday, August 6? First and foremost are the reigning champions, New Zealand’s Tim Price and Vitali, who put his showjumping demons to bed last year to record a decisive victory in this class (and yes, that ‘Open’ bit does mean that the Brits can have their own title snatched away from them here!). Elsewhere in the 35-strong list of Open entries, we’ve got a number of very good combinations that we’ll be expecting to see on the Burghley line-up, including 21-year-old Alice Casburn and her homebred Topspin – a horse whose classic galloping style should suit the Gatcombe bowl marvellously – Emily King and Valmy Biats, Tom McEwen and his Olympic double-medallist Toledo de Kerser, Pippa Funnell with both Billy Walk On and Majas Hope, Oliver Townend with Ballaghmor Class and Swallow Springs and, perhaps most excitingly, Piggy March and her exceptional Brookfield Inocent, back after over a year on the sidelines and ready to re-establish himself as one of the country’s foremost contenders. You can check out the entries in full here.
I’ll always recommend checking out the Festival in person, if you can, because it’s not just a great sporting outing – it’s also a really nice spot to sample local food and, of course, shop yourself silly. If that sounds appealing, you can nab tickets for just £25 per day (or less if you fancy going for a season pass). Not everyone’s able to manage a weekend trip to rural Gloucestershire, though, and if that’s not quite within the realm of reason for you, never fear: all the cross-country action across the weekend will be streamed in full thanks to Horse & Country TV, starting at 10.30 a.m. each day. If you’re not a member, or don’t want to commit to a subscription, you can purchase an event pass, allowing you access to the event’s stream for just £14.99 – but at just £6.99 a month, H&C+ membership is the way forward, and there’s even a seven-day free trial option so you can see if the deep well of archived programming is right for you.
Go Eventing!
