Stevens storms to third Eventers’ Challenge win

Gemma Stevens became the first rider to win the Ashby Underwriting Eventers’ Challenge three times in its current format, producing an assured victory on reigning champion Cooley Park Muze.

Drawn last to go out of 24 starters, West Sussex-based Gemma kept a cool head to produce a fluent clear round the lengthy track, crossing the finish line more than 6sec ahead of her nearest rival, in a time of 117.80sec.

“He is the most wonderful jumper, and safe to say, he's probably the best horse I've ever sat on,” enthused Gemma about the 10-year-old gelding.

Gemma’s main focus is eventing, and she is off to Aachen for next month’s FEI World Eventing Championships with her 2022 Eventers’ Challenge winner, Flash Cooley. But she also competes at the top-level in showjumping, finishing sixth in this year’s Al Shira’aa Derby with Envoy Merelsnest Z and winning Thursday’s UNIBED High-Performance Equine Bedding BS Winter Grades B&C Championship with Warrior Special.

Like Gemma, her winning ride Cooley Park Muze is also talented across both diciplines. “He could be a pure show jumper, but he's brave enough to be an event horse, and he's at lovely dressage, so at the moment, we're sticking with that,” she added.

Asked about his strengths, she says: “He's so incredibly adjustable, I can be full speed and go back to a collected canter in less than two strides — and there aren't many horses that can do that.”

While Gemma felt a bit of pressure as the reigning champion, her earlier International Arena win took some of the weight off her shoulders. “I just thought, I've had a lovely win yesterday, so let's just enjoy this wonderful horse and do the best we can do. I knew my plan, and I tried to stick to it, to the point where I made [husband] Gary watch the round back from last year and worked out where I could go one or two less strides. And I'm not joking when I say I counted everywhere!”

Another who was busy studying Gemma’s winning round from last year was eventual runner up Tara Dixon, the daughter of four-time Olympian Karen Dixon.

“At the beginning of this year I wrote a 2026 bucket list, and this was on my list,” said Tara. “I watched Gemma’s round from last year, and I analysed that for a long time!”

Tara’s mother had ridden in the Eventing Grand Prix – the former incarnation of the class, when showjumpers and eventers went head to head – but it was Tara’s first ever visit to Hickstead. She produced a brilliant round by Master Smart, a 13-year-old bay gelding, adding just 4sec for a total time of 124.30sec.

In third place was last year’s runners up, Alexander Bragg and Ardeo Premier, who finished clear in a time of 125.13sec.

For full results click here.