An experienced horse, famous father and training with Pippa Funnell – meet the 17-year-old eventer you need to know about

Oscar Fitzgerald is just 17, but with a Grand National-winning father, three international victories and a month’s training with Pippa Funnell already under his belt, he looks to have all the advantages necessary to head full steam into a career in eventing.

“I’m very lucky with the team of owners I have at my age – they have been extremely kind and hopefully I can do them justice on their horses,” says the Lambourn-based rider.

Oscar is the son of former National Hunt jockey Mick Fitzgerald, who won the Gold Cup and Grand National, but he never considered following his father into racing.

“That route was never really an opportunity for me because I’m quite tall – I love racing, but I knew I was too big,” says Oscar, who instead picked up his mother Chloe’s sport of eventing. “I did Pony Club and drifted towards eventing as I liked going cross-country and that sort of thing.”

Oscar is based in the yard at his parents’ house, having left school in the summer of 2024 after his GCSEs.

“It was an easy decision for me personally,” he says. “I really want to have a crack at eventing. I was very lucky this winter to work at Pippa Funnell’s for a month and that was really inspiring, to see that step up and understand how a professional yard works. It was a great experience.

“I’m very lucky that I’ve got a nice little set-up here – 12 stables, a school, land – and I’ve got a good little team of horses.”

Asked his highlight of 2024, Oscar said the junior CCI2*-S at Cornbury, a class he won on Super Cillious, finished sixth in on RL Rolls Royce and jumped clear across country in on his third ride, Grand Cru E.

Super Cillious is 15 years old and was a championship ride for Italy’s Vittoria Panizzon, including at the Tokyo Olympics, before Oscar took over the ride in April of 2024. His owners Deborah Bevan, Sarah Bullen, Juliet Donald and Vittoria approached him and asked if he wanted the ride.

“I went down there to have a sit on him and loved riding him,” says Oscar. “I was so very lucky with Vittoria, she was extraordinarily helpful. I have had a chance to ride a couple of horses who’ve been a bit more experienced and it’s interesting as they go a certain way, so I had to take on Vittoria’s style of riding, which I picked up quite quickly with her help, although it’s very different to mine, and so I was able to get cracking with him quite quickly. It’s a great opportunity to ride a horse like that and experience the feeling when looking for horses in the future.”

The pair also won the Ballindenisk CCI2*-L a couple of weeks after Cornbury to round off Super Cillious’s season.

The teenager also has the ride on Our Old Fella, the popular grey ex-racehorse who was previously competed by Piggy March. He has been with Oscar for nearly two years and was 11th in the young rider CCI3*-S at Cornbury.

“He’s a very cool little horse and was super at Cornbury,” says Oscar. “When he comes back into jumping work he’s quite the character, he squeals and bucks and has a great time.”

In 2025, Oscar Fitzgerald will aim Super Cillious and RL Rolls Royce, who will be eight years old, for junior trials, with European Championship selection his major aim. He also has some promising younger horses who will head for young horse classes.

“Our Old Fella will aim for the ex-racehorse class at Cornbury – I think that’s a great initiative to look forward to for our racehorses and it has partly come from Jayne McGivern, who owns ‘Polo’,” he says of a new contest which reflects the passion for ex-racehorses shared by Jayne and Cornbury president David Howden. It carries a £45,000 first prize.

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