History repeated itself at the Horse of the Year Show as Emily Ward and Wild Star HF retained the Rees Family Cup after a thrilling jump-off.
Cheshire-based Emily described her victory last year as like receiving an early Christmas present on what was her HOYS debut.
And she produced another outstanding performance with the 10-year-old bay stallion, taking top honours in a time of 35.31 seconds.
Seven combinations made it through to the jump-off, and the top three were separated by only 52 hundredths of a second, with James Smith finishing second on Astrade Z and Ireland’s Trevor Breen taking third aboard Konrad Obolensky.
“He is an amazing horse and so reliable in these situations where you have to do everything you can, and he gives it everything he can as well,” Emily said.
“He obviously loved the spotlight last year and wanted a bit of it again. It means everything. So much hard work goes into these horses from all the team, and days like this mean everything to everyone.
“He was amazing in the summer this year, then had a little bit of time off after suffering a small injury in the field, and then in his first big show back he wins a big class like this one.
“To have a horse like this in your lifetime is an honour. He is a home-bred, and to have the whole team here today to witness it is just momentous.”
A bumper crowd watched on as action in the Andrews Bowen International Arena continued with the Rees Family Accumulator, where riders collect an increasing number of points for each fence jumped, and it went to Scotland’s James Smith.
Twelve combinations recorded the maximum score of 65 points, which included 20 for clearing the final Joker fence, with James’ time of 41.59 seconds proving enough to give him top spot.
The chasing pack ran him close, with Welshman Mark Edwards taking second on Tinkers Touch, just 53 hundredths behind, while Madison Heath taking third aboard BP Millionaire.
ENDS
For more information on Horse of the Year Show 2026, please contact:
Horse of the Year Show Press Office, Grandstand Media Ltd.
Tel: 02476 858205
Email: press@hoys.co.uk
Image: 1st Class Images