The Second Competition Stallions Awards Presented at the British Stallion Event
Thursday 12 January 2017
The second Competition Stallions Awards were presented at The British Stallion Event on 7th January to the top sires of progeny assessed by the British Breeding/British Equestrian Federation (BEF) Futurity Evaluations 2016.
The awards, now in their second year, are the brainchild of Jane Skepper, Director of the Competition Stallions Guide. “It has been exciting to see these Awards develop and the quality of the progeny going through the Futurity which are by these British based Stallions”, said Jane. ‘This year we slightly tweaked the criteria of Awards to come more into line with the current Futurity Awards and highlight Stallions siring high achieving Futurity scores in the Award Year rather than an average score.’
The Awards take place annually, based on the results of progeny presented at the British Breeding/BEF Futurity Evaluations in the single year. To be eligible for an award the stallion must be based in the UK and must have had at least 5 progeny forward at the Futurity Evaluations across any discipline with at least one progeny being presented in the Award Year. The highest futurity score in the Award year determines the winner and awards are made in each discipline: Dressage, Endurance, Eventing, Show Jumping & Sports Pony as well as an innovative Newcomer’s award.
The Dressage Competition Stallion Award went to the exciting young Stallion Timolin, who was the recipient of the Newcomer Award in 2017. Timolin, by the amazing Totilas and out of the Oldenburg mare, Samira is owned by the Catherston Stud. Timolin was the sire of foal Catherston Temptation who received the Elite Score of 9.50 in the Dressage Section. Timolin received his Award in person and showed off his exceptional paces and presence to the crowds delight.
The Eventing Stallion Award went to Up with the Lark, himself an Advanced Eventing Stallion, by the Advanced Stallion Welton Apollo out of the Advanced Eventing mare Samira. Up with the Lark was the sire of the Elite scoring yearling Classictop Up & At It scoring an Elite score of 9.25. Up with the Lark recently competed in dressage and won at Advanced & Prix St George. He has now retired to Stud at the Stanley Grange Stud.
The Endurance Stallion Award went to Shuwaiman Al Rais. He is a pure Arab Stallion who competes in Endurance himself and sired the Endurance foal Kamili who received an Elite with the score of 9.25. He was bred and is owned by Jenny Lees of Pearl Island Arabians where he stands at Stud.
The Show Jumping Stallion award went to Westpoint Quickfire. Unable to appear in person, but his owners Edward and Caroline Evans from the Westpoint Stud in Shropshire made the trip down to receive the award. Westpoint Quickfire is by Quick Star, the same sire as Nick Skelton’s Gold Medal Olympic Stallion Big Star. Wespoint Quickfire was the sire of the Elite Show Jumping foal SHS Quickstep who scored 9.15.
The Sports Pony Stallion award went to the very popular Littledale Bright Star who is owned and bred by the Catherston Stud. At only 12.2hh he has sired competition ponies and horses across the major disciplines and he continues to wow the crowds with his enthusiasm and character when he appears. ‘Titch’ as he is affectionately known at home was the sire of the high scoring Catherston Bobby Bright who not only achieved the highest score for Sports Ponies in 2016 but also scored Higher First Premiums as a foal and yearling as well. He was also reserve Champion Sport Horse at the Dorset County Show.
To ensure that young stallions are not overlooked, there is also an Award for the leading Newcomer. To be eligible, stallions must have had between 3 and 5 progeny forward across any of the disciplines, and must not have had more than 5 progeny presented in total.
The Newcomer Award went to the Futurity graduate, Elite performance tested Eventing Stallion FHS Diamond in the Rough. A successful cross of 2 outstanding bloodlines of Voltaire and the TB Strong Gale. At 9yrs he is an exciting Young Stallion already showing that he is passing on good traits with his progeny receiving a higher first premiums.
“We are very thankful to British Breeding and the BEF for allowing us the use of their Futurity Evaluation data for the results and also for letting us present the award at the Stallion Event so that the Stallions have a chance to receive their awards in front of an audience in person or by a representative’ said Jane
Competition Stallions has now produced its 6th Edition of the Guide for Graded & Approved Competition Stallions. For further information and to obtain a copy, visit http://www.competition-stallions.com.
11dtw0hmsttk0.jpg "NAF Five Star Bronze and Silver League Qualifiers get underway at Speetley Equestrian Centre")
