news RoR drawing up plans for online classes in place of cancelled National Championships

Plans for a series of online classes are being advanced by Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) following confirmation that the charity’s 2020 National Championships have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The RoR Goffs UK National Championships were due to be held at the Aintree International Equestrian Centre on 27^th - 30^th August but the show has been cancelled. Featuring classes for dressage, jumping and showing it was Britain’s biggest event for showcasing the versatility of the thoroughbred and in 2019 attracted entries from 273 former racehorses.

Di Arbuthnot, Chief Executive of RoR, said: “Sadly, due to the pandemic, it will not be possible to stage the National Championships this year. However, in its place we will be running a series of online showing classes. If Government restrictions are sufficiently eased, there will be both ‘in-hand’ and ‘ridden’ classes open to all RoR registered horses.

“It is obviously a great shame that we have had to cancel but it is unavoidable and I hope everyone understands the situation. However, we are determined to give our members the opportunity to show us what they and their horses are capable of and the plan is to run a wide range of showing classes, including the finals of series, to accommodate as many people as possible.”

Full details, including the schedule and timetables, will follow. At present the plans include entries for showing classes being open from 1st July. Plans are also in development to cater for the horses and riders who would have participated in the scheduled dressage competitions, with more details to follow in the coming weeks.

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