Maldon’s Reine of Riding Laura Renwick Takes Second Hickstead Championship
Monday 23 June 2025
Laura Renwick was the woman of the moment in the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting’s Seven- and Eight-Year-Old Championship, Maldon’s Laura Renwick returned to the International Arena in West Sussex on unbeatable form.
Laura not only won the Billy Stud Auction Six-Year-Old Jumping Championship with D-Ons Yvonvhs Z, she also took second and third with NFS Taluga and Opium VD Kruisselbrink.
“I think I’ve timed this brilliantly, actually,” said Laura. “This afternoon’s going to be hot, and I’ve finished for the day, so I can put my feet up and watch the rest of the action on the telly!”
Laura's runner up NFS Taluga is a home bred. “NFS Taluga is actually out of the same mare as NFS Top Gun, who won yesterday,” she says. “The other two horses in this class weren’t bred by us – we found them in Holland – but we’ve had them since they were three years old, and so we’ve done everything with them.”
Laura has long had a reputation as one of Britain’s best producers of young horses, but after a near career-ending fall in 2022, she admits she wondered if it was time to step away from the less experienced horses in her stable.
“Even at the start of my top-level career, I was always riding horses I’d brought through myself – I never bought older horses,” she says. “I suppose it’s what I’m known for. I’ve always trained them myself, and even after all these years, I still get a real kick out of it – finding out what makes them tick, feeling the progress week on week, year on year – but after my accident, I did wonder if I should stay off the five-year-olds.”
But, she says, she began her day today in the Billy Stud Auction Five-Year-Old Championship with a top-five finish on Pasadena WFS, a horse she says is “100% straight”. With four horses ridden, and four placings in the iconic Hickstead International Arena, Laura can now sit back and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Image: Boots and Hooves Photography
.JPG "Laura Renwick took her first major step ‘Back to the top’ with a spectacular win in the Al Shira’aa Grand Prix at Bolesworth International")
