A former racehorse forging a second career in the sport of eventing was the star of the final day of Cornbury House Horse Trials, taking place this weekend in England’s Cotswolds.
Enhanced, ridden by Bubby Upton (GBR) and owned by his breeders, Phoebe and Jeffrey Hobby of Brightwalton Stud, won the £45,000 first prize in the Arena Racing Company Racehorse To Eventer Challenge Cup, just tipping one showjump to add four faults to his dressage mark of 25.8.
What is the Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup? Introduced in 2025 at Cornbury and supported by Arena Racing Company, the Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup is a joint initiative between the Howden family’s Cornbury House Horse Trials and Jayne McGivern of Dash Grange Stud designed to encourage and promote second careers in eventing of racehorses who have come off the track and those thoroughbreds who didn’t make it to the racecourse. [Read more here]
Bubby said: “Enhanced has been amazing all week. He’s a really, really sensitive horse – his sire is New Approach, and his offspring are renowned for you needing to get on the right side of their brains. I’ve had him for two years and we’ve really built an incredible partnership and developed the trust. Cross-country he’s an absolute Ferrari – the feeling of galloping up these Cornbury hills on a racehorse is unbelievable; so effortlessly fast and powerful. I’m so grateful to David, Jayne and Arena Racing Company for staging this class – it’s amazing for the racehorses to be able to shine.”
Another note from Cornbury: The USA’s Hallie Coon picked up another international win, taking the CCI3*-S Section J victory with her own Tykillen Tango. Here’s what Hallie had to say: “The horse really surprised me this weekend. We came here for a nice run, to prepare for the seven-year-old world championships in Le Lion, so to come and win the open class is really special. He gives me all the feelings that you would want from a top horse.”
[Read more from Cornbury here]
U.S. Weekend Events
The Fork at Tryon International (NC): [Website] [Schedule] [Entries & Ride Times] [Live Stream] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Otter Creek Fall H.T. (WI): [Website] [Entries & Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Aspen Farm H.T. (WA): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
Flying Cross Farm H.T. (KY): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times/Scoring] [Volunteer]
GMHA September H.T. (VT): [Website] [Entries & Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Marlborough H.T. (MD): [Website] [Entries & Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
Links & Reading
- Why Self-Carriage Matters in Every Discipline
- Saffie Osborne makes racing history as first female British Classic winner: ‘I definitely didn’t have this on the bingo card for this week!’
- What horse owners need to know about New World screwworm
- Connecting With Your Community as an Equine Business
Training Tip of the Day
Train your eye by focusing on the right things when finding a distance, as taught by the German Riding Instructor:
Go Eventing
Gamal Awad, husband to Canadian Olympian Hawley Bennett-Awad, was one of the first responders on scene at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. In honor of the 2026 date, Gamal was invited to the Observance Ceremony at the place where he helped to save many lives in service to his country and countrymen and women. Thank you to Gamal and to every other first responder who made an impact on that day.
