Are You & Your Horse Ready For Bitting Advice? The Steps You Need To Consider First
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The Jockey Club has ended its agreement to run Blenheim Horse Trials two years before their five-year contract expires.
The Blenheim horse trials were run by British Eventing (BE) before The Jockey Club. However, in August 2020, BE announced that the event (which had already been cancelled due to Covid that year) would no longer be organised by them, with the reasoning being the need to reassess the organisational structure of the event, and the decision was made that BE would “focus on the delivery of core sport”.
The Jockey Club was awarded a five-year contract as Blenheim Horse Trials organisers in December 2020, following a competitive tender process carried out by the trustees of Blenheim Palace.
On November 8th 2022, The Jockey Club sadly announced that the 2022 event that was held at Woodstock, Oxfordshire in September of this year would be the last occasion in which the event ran under their banner.
The Jockey Club Racecourses West Managing Director cited economic reasons as the driving force of the difficult choice, stating:
"The current economic climate is, unfortunately, going to have an impact on us all and we have therefore made the difficult decision to end our contract with the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials"
“We are proud to have led the way in eventing in Britain as we emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 but we now feel the time is right to concentrate on our core mission of acting for the long-term benefit of British horseracing, with our profits being reinvested into that sport,” Renton said.
The Jockey Club's recent withdrawal from eventing is disappointing for riders who had high hopes for The Jockey Club's potential contribution to the sport, both in terms of competition and business opportunities.
Helen West, chief executive of British Eventing, told Horse and Hound that pulling out of organising Blenheim is "really sad".
“We are concerned from British Eventing’s perspective for the sport, because it is such a key fixture,” she said.
Ms West stated that she will discuss future plans with Roy Cox, managing director of Blenheim Estate, in order to devise a plan.
“I don’t want to lose it as a fixture and my understanding is that the palace doesn’t want to lose the event, they want to have it there,” she said.
Ms. West said that the first steps for her are speaking to the palace in order to make a plan for the future of the event, which will include gathering expressions of interest or approaching those who have put their names forward in the past with hopes of running Blenheim. She added that tender process will be transparent.
The dates for the next event have already been submitted to the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) and approved, leaving competitors and fans of the trials hoping to see a bright and exciting future for the event.
To keep up with the latest equestrian news, take a look at the News & Event's section of the Horsemart Community blog.
To keep up with the latest equestrian news, take a look at the News & Event's section of the Horsemart Community blog.
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