A farrier and her own former racehorse were crowned SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse champion at the 2025 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), pipping a fresh face to the title.
Loti Innes-Parry, from Oxfordshire, was elated to lift the title astride her own As I See It. The 13-year-old gelding by Kings Theatre was in training with Harry Fry during his racing days. Loti has owned him for the past four years, having acquired him via Sally Taylor’s racehorse rehabilitation yard.
“He went in and I felt like he was saying ‘I’ve got this,’ and he took me round. He’s an incredible ride. He was amazing today and it felt like everything we’ve worked on for this past year had paid off,” said Loti.
As I See It has been produced by Jo Bates for the past year.
“He’s such a special boy,” said Jo, who produced another Kings Theatre gelding, Minella Rebellion, to win the same title with his owner Katie Dashwood. “They’ve got very similar attitudes – they’re winners and they want to win.”
Also a finalist last year, the pair booked their ticket to this year’s final at the Sport Horse Breeding (SHB (GB)) National Hunter championships.
“This is the absolute pinnacle” said Loti of his career, which also counts standing reserve novice champion at the Jockey Club’s Retraining of Racehorses Championships in Aintree in 2024, and reserve open this summer, among other highlights.
In reserve was Diane Wilson’s lightly shown grey, Scots Gold, ridden by Jacqueline Willliamson. Watching the class, it was difficult to believe this was the seven-year-old’s fifth show. He was previously trained by Dan Skelton and Lizzie Quinlan and he’s been out of training for a year.
“He had a meltdown in the arena familiarisation,” said Jacqueline, who has produced him for just four months. “But he went back in, and was a total pro.”
This pair also took the in-hand championship at the Burgham International Thoroughbred and Ex-Racehorse show earlier this season, and qualified for HOYS at Greenlands Arena.
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