Endurance GB new Southern Champion shows staying power in gritty title win

Endurance GB’s new Southern Champions, Sally Mcilwaine and her 15.3hh Irish Sport Horse, Winnie The Witch showed staying power in Sunday’s 80km title race ride at Three Rivers Ride, to complete and take the championship two years after settling for second place. 

They completed at a gritty 11.6km/hr with Sally’s verdict on becoming Southern Champion being it was a nice ‘surprise’. It completed a good weekend for Sally, having bowled round Three Rivers’ 34km the previous day with her New Forest gelding Tamba (registered as Ashurst Twister) at 13.7Km/hr.  

Organised by Endurance GB’s Mid South Group, Three Rivers Ride is based from a large grassy venue at Tenantry Farm at Rockbourne near Fordingbridge, Hampshire. The testing route of distances up to 160km in two days, is made up of grassland tracks, undulating downland, bridleways and some roadwork through picturesque villages. 

Sally Mcilwaine said: “The route was really well-marked and the going was good. Winnie had a good heart rate and great recovery all day and I was really pleased with her finishing heart rate of 45. The ride seems to have taken absolutely nothing out of her but I think all she was interested in was spooking and eating. Normally she is at least reasonably forward with the more cantering the better, but it felt like hard work yesterday and I found the second loop particularly challenging.” 

Having followed Nikki Malcolm and Oso Spiralling Wind across the line in 2019, Sally said: “I hadn’t entered with the aim of becoming champion but it is nice to show what non Arab horses can do in the sport. Her incredible progression is also a way of encouraging new people to try endurance riding because the sport has totally changed her. 

“I took Winnie on four years ago when she was given to me because she was classed as ‘dangerous’. She was a horse who wouldn’t hack and wouldn’t go on her own, but she has taken to endurance and become much easier with the miles.” 

The pair are enjoying a good season so far, having completed a 36km ride at Hardy’s followed by a 67km at Cerne Giant before earning a second place in the 80km race ride at Avon Valley.  

Sally, who is based in Bristol but keeps her four horses near Warminster in Wiltshire, used to work with horses but now drives lorries for a living and as well as training the horses, keeps fit herself by running. 

“I used to work with horses but now driving a lorry it is a bit harder to stay fit. We have woodland where I keep the horses and I also go up on Salisbury Plain and have used gallops to train on in the past.” 

Sally, a former Arab racing jockey with five winners including at Goodwood under her belt, made the transition to endurance when her two Arab racing mares retired from the race track. 

As well as the headline 80km Regional Championship, Endurance GB’s series of Northern, Southern and Welsh Championships now run additional Championships classes offering something for all levels: with a Regional Open Championship (65km GER performance formula), a Regional Novice Championship (40km novice GER performance formula) and a Regional Grassroots Championships (20km foundation GER performance formula).  

Judy Holloway and Nuraletta were clear winners of the Southern Open Championship completing the 65km graded ride at a speed of 12.5km/hr with a finishing heart rate of 41 ahead of Georgia Brenton and Shabana Sabreah in second and Charlotte Robinson with De Ffanaria in third. 

Former Endurance GB National Champions in 2018, Dr Belinda Stewart and Penny Clawd staged something of a comeback to the sport at Three Rivers and finished with a well deserved first place in the Southern Novice Championship. 

Belinda, who works as a GP in South Wales five days a week, said: “As she's not competed since Aug 2019, I thought I had better do a novice ride to break us both back in. I've not been able to get much training in due to work and Welsh lockdown restrictions.  

“It was a fantastic event, well organised. Helpful friendly volunteers. All road crossings were manned.and TRF [Trail Riders Fellowship] did a wonderful job marking the different loops.” 

Southern Grassroots Champion Sharon Hutley, a para rider who competes despite osteoporosis and having had multiple back fractures, said: “The ride was fantastic, one section was tricky but that's what endurance is about. It tests you and your horse.” 

Sharon’s horse CB The Perly King, is an American Quarter horse stallion who is 18 years old and blind in his left eye due to uveitis.  

Sharon said: “Without him I wouldn't be able to ride. He is utterly bombproof. He looks after me and just loves endurance - he finds other disciplines boring.” 

Event secretary Sarah Denham said: “The weather was very kind to us and the promised rain mostly stayed away. All the reports we had were that the routes rode well. At the top level, a couple of advanced riders got homebred horses around their first 80kms and the CER provided us with an exciting racing finish. At the lower levels it was great to see some of the younger riders enjoying their first taste of the sport and we definitely have some future endurance addicts going by the grins as they crossed the line. A massive thank you to all the volunteers who make the event possible, we really couldn't do it without them and it was lovely to be back with the endurance family.” 

Endurance GB Operations Director Esther Young said: “This second of Endurance GB’s Regional Championship series for 2021 was a hugely popular ride with some great stories from across the distances, especially of riders stepping up a distance along with some inspiring performances from Pony Club endurance riders who may be our stars of the future. Our thanks go to Pauline Beach and the Mid South Group for superb organisation and for creating an event for so many riders to enjoy.” 

The Northern Championship, won by Katie Atkinson, took place earlier this month and the Welsh Championships will be held at Pembrey Country Park on 11-12 September.