Flaygray wins at Horse of the Year Show

So the British horse show season drew to its climax with the Horse of the Year Show, and ex-racehorses took their place amongst the ribbons with the SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse Championship. Who would have thought, ten years ago, that ex-racers would ever get a look-in at the HOYS arena? – except perhaps in disguise as something else!

But now retrained racehorses are mixing it with the show-pros, and doing brilliantly. This year’s winner was the gorgeous grey, Flaygray, a 10-year-old gelding by Terimon. Owned and ridden by 28-year-old Faye Hesketh, from Preston in Lancashire, Flaygray went beautifully, looked fantastic, and was a worthy winner. 

Indeed, the pair have had a marvellous first season together, winning their first two outings and coming 5^th ( out of  47) at the Great Yorkshire Show. They took the Supreme Championship at the Area NPS Show as a show hack, and won the Racehorse to Riding Horse classes at Aintree, Windsor, and the North of England Show . And then claimed the HOYS title – not bad for starters!

Flaygray has become a superb show-horse now, but in his former career he was a pretty decent racehorse too. He was bred by Alison Lee, a vet from Carnforth, Lancashire, and was trained by former National Hunt jockey Chris Grant in County Durham. Flaygray ran twelve times, mostly over hurdles on the northern tracks, and claimed two wins, three thirds, and some £10,000 prize money. He last ran at Wetherby in May 2012 (and came an ignominious tenth of ten! Ah well, he was no doubt trying to explain that he was ready for a change of lifestyle….) A good thing his people listened, because he was about to embark on an even more successful, second, career.

Initially, after his retirement from racing, Flaygray was kept quietly at home by Miss  Lee, spending some twelve months as a much-loved ‘field-ornament’. But then his farrier, Richard Helliwell, persuaded Miss Lee that letting Flaygray loll about much longer was a waste of a good horse. The lad was ready for another job! (Anyone involved with retraining retired racehorses will say that, after a period of rest-and- chill-out time, the horse will ‘tell you’ when he’s ready to start doing something else.)

And as it happened, Richard was the partner of Faye, who was thinking about looking for an ex-racehorse to show….  Richard showed Faye a photo of Flaygray, Faye fell in love, and the rest, as they say, has become fairy-tale-like history.

Flaygray has made a fantastic, and remarkably speedy, transition from racehorse to riding horse. ( Probably that twelve months chilling out helped – it usually does.) He and Faye had only been together three months when they started winning in the showring. Clearly they have gelled extremely well together. Faye says, “Grazie is such a nice person, easy and very good to do, he is such a good boy.”

Of their HOYS triumph Faye said : “It means a lot to win at HOYS, when you work week in, week out. Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed of a day like today, but you never think it’s going to happen.”

Well – it has! Who says dreams can’t come true?

Having gone straight to the top in their first year of ROR classes, Flaygray and Faye have little to prove in that area. Next year, Faye says, she hopes to show Flaygray in Hack or Novice Riding Horse classes.

On present form, Flaygray’s second career will be even more successful that his first!

Full results of the HOYS  SEIB Racehorse to Riding Horse class were:

1st - Flaygray - Faye Hesketh
2nd - Chouxdamour - Claire Oliver
3rd - Buckingham Boys - Clare Poole
4th - Jack the Giant -  Allistair Hood
5th - Astrobrava - Rebecca Lowe
6th - Valentine Jak - Donna Bamonte
7th - Decimate - Lynn Russell
8th - Ingleby Hill - Shelley Heywood
9th - Midnight Chase - Sally Hayward

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