Equestrian Relief

Hazel Jackson-Gaona’s impressive Bake Off Easter Cake Challenge entry

Photograph courtesy of Equestrian Relief Zara Tindall’s painting raised £5,700 for the Appeal

Team Presenter’s Nick Luck’s painting

Equestrian Relief Raises Over £250,000

Over the course of one week (6 – 13 April) Equestrian Relief saw equestrian stars and celebrities competing in a series of challenges with the goal of raising £100,000 for the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Urgent Appeal Fund.

There were seven equestrian teams overall from five equestrian disciplines, with Team Polo represented by Jack Richardson, Hazel Jackson-Gaona, Tom Morley, Mark Tomlinson and Malcolm Borwick. Over the course of the week each team took on five challenges (On the Gallops, Plankety Plank,

Malcolm Borwick’s Easter Cake

Horse Drawn, Showstopper and Dark Horse) which were designed to test the physical, creative and artistic skills of the riders. Overall Team Polo came second with 46 points, with Team Eventing taking first place with 64 points, Team Show Jumping South and Team Presenters in joint third with 42 points.

Individually, Team Polo also did well: Jack Richardson came third in the 5km run “On the Gallops” with a time of 20 minutes 1 second, Malcolm Borwick came third in the Plankety Plank with a time of 7 minutes 31 seconds and just lost out on a podium position in the Bake Off Easter Showstopper by one point, Jack Richardson and Tom Morley’s Team Polo Spoof Rap duet secured them a joint second place in the Dark Horse challenge. Mark Tomlinson, Team Polo’s Captain commented, “I’m very proud of the Team Polo ’s performance and our silver medal, which is impressive as

we were late comers to the competition. The highlights for me have to be Jack and Tom’s rap, which was outstanding, and the fact that as a collective, the equestrian world came together to raise over a quarter of a million pounds for the Covid-19 Appeal.”

Polo Times spoke to Hazel about her experience, “It was an incredible privilege to take part in, I finally taught myself how to bake, however unfortunately there is no hope for my artistic skills. I am so proud of how much money was raised for such an impressive cause. I have such an appreciation for the NHS front-liners and all the essential workers. There was such amazing positive spirit – Jack and Tom made the most hilarious video, which can be seen on my Instagram page, along with Malcolm’s seriously impressive plank and Mark’s incredible Artistic skills, we came second”.

The final pounds and pennies have been counted and it has now been announced

Team Racing’s Oli Bell’s painting

that Equestrian Relief raised a staggering amount, over £250,000 for the NHS Covid-19 Appeal, with the efforts of the teams and generosity of donations meaning Equestrian Relief smashed their initial £100,000 target, with the online auction itself adding £165,440 to the overall total. The top charity auction lot was membership of a Nick Bradley Racing syndicate which raised £7,501 and Zara Tindall’s painting (pictured) from the Horse Drawn challenge raised £5,700.

Nina Barbour, Bolesworth Managing Director commented, “It has been an overwhelming fortnight – and we are delighted to be in a position to be donating over quarter of a millions pounds to the NHS Covid-19 Crisis Fund. I would just like to extend a massive thank you to everyone from the Equestrian World who has supported this fantastic cause in every way, and helped us achieve this great result.”

Equestrian Relief Teams:

1st: Team Eventing: Zara Tindall (Captain), Ben Hobday, Oliver Townend, Alex Hua Tian & Ros Canter 2nd: Team Polo: Mark Tomlinson (Captain), Jack Richardson, Hazel Jackson-Gaona, Tom Morley, & Malcolm Borwick 3rd: Team Presenters: Alice Plunkett (Captain), Emma Spencer, Nick Luck, Rishi Persad & Luke Harvey

3rd: Team Show Jumping – South:

Jay Halim (Captain), Scott Brash, Daisy Bunn, Shane Breen & Jess Mendoza 5th: Team Dressage: Richard Davison (Captain), Toni Terry, Carl Hester, Sarah Higgins & Gareth Hughes 6th: Team Racing: Mike Bushell (Captain), A P McCoy, Frankie Dettori, Oli Bell & Rachel Lugo

7th: Team Show Jumping – North:

Will Whitaker (Captain), Ellen Whitaker, Anthony Condon, Geoff Billington & Harry Charles