The Jockey Club RoR National Championships, Great Britain’s largest event exclusively for former racehorses, will commence at Aintree International Equestrian Centre on Tuesday, 20 August. Over six days of competition across various levels, the event will feature classes in dressage, arena eventing, showjumping, and showing and will culminate in the crowning of The Hamilton Tarmac RoR Elite Performance Award for Dressage and The Tattersalls RoR Ridden Showing Supreme Champion during Saturday’s evening performance.
A remarkable 306 former racehorses are entered to compete at Aintree during the six-day event. This year’s entries include notable names such as Ballyoptic, Balthazar King, Definitly Red, Duc Des Genievres, Forth Bridge, Kalashnikov, Lalor, and Smad Place. These horses are now competing on a level playing field against those with less celebrated racing careers, many of which have gone on to achieve notable success in their second careers, supported by the opportunities provided by RoR.
During the evening performances on Thursday and Saturday, spectators will be treated to the ‘Always a Star’ parades, featuring some of the top-performing racehorses. Additionally, the popular Glamour Stakes will return on Saturday evening, where both horses and handlers don their finest attire to compete to be crowned the most glamourous.
Rupert Arnold, Executive Consultant for RoR, said: “This show continues to grow each year, attracting a remarkable number of entries from former racehorses travelling from across the country to Aintree. This event truly showcases the versatility of the thoroughbred and demonstrates the incredible lives they lead after retiring from racing.
“On behalf of RoR and the competitors, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all our sponsors, particularly The Jockey Club for their generous headline sponsorship, Tattersalls for supporting all of our showing series, and all the individual sponsors.”
Speaking on behalf of the The Jockey Club, Sulekha Varma, Clerk of the Course at Aintree Racecourse and North West Head of Racing for Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “It is a pleasure to host the Retraining of Racehorses Championships at Aintree International Equestrian Centre once again this summer, in The Jockey Club’s fourth year as headline sponsor.
It is always wonderful to see so many former racehorses gathered in one place competing at so many different levels, but all showing what makes the thoroughbred such a fabulous pleasure and competition horse. The event highlights the vital role Retraining of Racehorses plays in providing opportunities for these horses to have fulfilling second careers.”
All classes held in the indoor arena of the International Equestrian Centre over the six days will be live-streamed via Clipmyhorse.tv, offering an opportunity for those unable to attend to tune in to this remarkable event.
