By Darren Cartwright
Breeder Charlie Hill’s faith in an underwhelming thoroughbred becoming a showjumping champion has been realised following a blue-ribbon performance at Ekka.
It was at Quirindi in 2017 where Hills spotted then four-year-old gelding Included finishing well down the track. He then approached the trainer to buy it as a show jumping horse.
About half a dozen runs later and without a placing from 12 starts, Charlie got a call to see if he was still interested in the son of Snapy Halo and grandson of Danzero.
“I saw him race and went up to the trainer and said, ‘do you want to sell that horse?’,” Charlie explained.
“He was a nice type and looked like he wasn’t going to be a racehorse, but he wanted to race him as he thought he was going alright.
“About 18 months later he rang me and said ‘do you want to take that horse?’”.
Jumping as Hills Included with accomplished rider Brock Everingham in the saddle, the gelding won Highest Placed Thoroughbred in the Open Showjumping 700 Class.
The victory for Hills Included has been a long time coming after the pandemic shuttered Shows across the country for two years.
“He competed in Open class against warmbloods and standardbreds and he beat some of them, but he pulled a rail. If he hadn’t pulled the rail he would have been right in it,” Charlie said.
Hills Included in full flight. The gelding never placed in 12 race starts but now has an Ekka blue ribbon. Images: Highflyer Images
Charlie, who lives at Quirindi, took ownership of the horse in 2018 and his daughter Sophie schooled and re-trained the now 10-year-old to easily clear 1.2m to 1.3m fences.
“My daughter's been riding and getting him ready since we got him, but we haven't had a lot of shows because everything's sort of stopped because of Covid,” Charlie said.
“Last year he did a show run through Queensland with (former Olympian) Ron Easey but the Ekka was cancelled and there still hasn’t been a lot of shows on down our way.
“He got to Dubbo show three weeks, which is one of the few shows we were able to get to before the Ekka and he won every class he was in.
“He’s got a great demeanour and temperament.”
Hills Included’s success is testament to the versatility of thoroughbreds in their post-race careers, said Racing Queensland’s Senior Animal Care Manager Kim Duffy.
The Queensland Off-The-Track Event Sponsorship Program is an initiative to create competition opportunities for retired racehorses in Queensland, across a multitude of equestrian and domestic horse sport disciplines, Kim said.
“There are so many opportunities for thoroughbreds and standardbreds to be re-trained and compete in a variety of disciplines, including showing, dressage, eventing, showjumping, sporting and campdrafting” she said.
“The success we saw in the Main Arena at Ekka further highlights the versatility of former thoroughbreds and standardbreds beyond their racing careers.”
For more information about Queensland Off-The-Track click here.