‘I owe it to him’: five-star stalwart set to retire following Burghley

Five-star event rider Richard Jones has announced his top ride, Alfies Clover, will retire following his final event at next week’s Defender Burghley Horse Trials (5–8 September).

The much-loved grey gelding, who is 17, has notched up several top-10 placings at four- and five-star level, including finishing seventh at Burghley in 2022 and 2018, 10th at Badminton in 2022, sixth in the five-star at Bicton in 2021 and fourth and seventh in the CCI4*-L at Bramham in 2019 and 2018 respectively. Alfie and Richard were also named on the British team’s nominated entries list for the 2022 eventing World Championships at Pratoni del Vivaro in Italy.

“Alfie is happy and enjoying every minute of the build-up to the Burghley event, and I owe it to him to keep him that way for as long as I can,” said Richard.

Richard bought Alfie from Goresbridge Sales in Ireland as an unbroken three-year-old and produced him throughout his career from his base in Rutland, 15 minutes from Burghley.

Alfie’s journey began at Burghley in 2010.

“I bought an unbroken three-year-old – Impact III – by Master Imp from the 2009 September Goresbridge sale in Ireland,” Richard told H&H in 2017. “At the time, Goresbridge was offering a £5,000 bonus to the best-placed Goresbridge September three-year-old sale graduate at the Burghley Young Event Horse (BYEH) four-year-old final.

“I wouldn’t usually compete in BYEH classes, but it seemed like a good opportunity and we ended up winning the prize. I was very fortunate that the owner of the horse, Jo Musto, let me keep the money.”

Three weeks later, Richard returned to the September Goresbridge sale and used the money to buy an unbroken three-year-old. That horse was Alfie.

“From day one, he has been a top class horse — in the way that he gallops to the way he went in his first ever cross-country school,” said Richard.

The Irish-bred gelding by Tajraasi is well known for his ability to gallop and jump and, since embarking on his career as an event horse at the age of six, has competed every year over the past 12 years with plenty of success.

Next week at Burghley, Alfie lines up at his 11th five-star competition with Richard, drawn as number 24, and they are sure to have plenty of local support.

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