Next week, the Queen may be selected to receive a prized equestrian trophy “from beyond the dead.”
First Receiver, a thoroughbred that the late Queen owned and had bred at her Sandringham stud, is in contention for the Horse of the Year award, one of the equestrian sport’s highest honors.
The award is given as part of the Equestrian Championship, which dates back to 1949 and is known as “The World’s Most Famous Horse Show.”
The Queen had success in horse exhibiting as well as horse racing in the last years of her life.
She never did, however, take home the prestigious Horse of the Year award, just as she never did the Epsom Derby.
Katie Jerram-Hunnable, who has rode First Receiver for 20 years and other Royal show horses, recently shared her enthusiasm in an exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday.
“Winning the Horse of the Year Show was Her Majesty’s one and only goal.” I would want to make her proud by achieving it on her Sandringham homebred horse. She would live out her ambition of winning, and I want her to do so from beyond the grave. On her horses, I’ve won Reserve Champion four times despite coming so close so many times.
The Equestrian Championship, commonly referred to as “Crufts for horses,” starts on Wednesday and attracts thousands of horses from all over the world.
Just four days before the Queen died, First Receiver earned his spot in the “Racehorse to Riding Horse of the Year” competition.
On September 4, the qualifying competition was held at the famed Burghley Horse Trials, where Zara Tindall, the Queen’s granddaughter, also participated in the Three Day Event in front of 170,000 spectators.
First Receiver, popularly referred to as “Firsty,” won a first-place rosette, the Queen’s last ever one, when Princess Anne, the Queen’s daughter, was awarding awards.
Ms. Jerram-Hunnable informed Terry Pendry, the manager of the Queen’s stable, of the news right away.
“I called Terry as soon as I exited the ring,” you said. He immediately contacted Her Majesty, who was overjoyed to hear that he had won the class that day. Jerram-Hunnable, who has rode some 30 horses for the Queen over the course of 20 years, continues, “It was my final victory for Her Majesty, and that makes me sentimental. Ironically, Firsty felt prepared for the first time shortly before the Queen departed because I wasn’t sure he would be and I was holding him back. He excelled in Burghley, and I’m extremely proud of him. I ask the Lord to make her proud at Horse of the Year, I pray.
First Receiver, a five-year-old racehorse trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by notable riders like Frankie Dettori, began life as a racehorse.
He was still racing less than two years ago, but the Queen, who has always been concerned with animal welfare, altered his line of work to lessen the likelihood that he would get an injury.
The competition on Wednesday will provide Firsty with his toughest test yet in his new career.
The competition lasts for an hour and involves hundreds of horses trying to qualify. It is believed that the horses would line up and go in single file.
They must resist the urge to race other horses, which will be difficult for First Receiver given his history in the sport.
The audience would undoubtedly choose First Receiver to win, but Jerram-Hunnable believes he has a good chance.
She is unclear about what will happen to him and the other four horses she rode for the late Queen and now belong to King Charles after the competition, however.
She remarked last week, after a 20-day break from riding due to Royal mourning, “Horse of the Year may be my final day riding these wonderful horses, so we are all extremely emotional about it.”
None of us are aware of our actions or the plans. I can only hope that they stay with us; nevertheless, none of us are certain. If we were to triumph, it would mean the world to me to know that I had succeeded in achieving the goal I had been given, which is to be named Horse of the Year. I hope we keep making her proud.