New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and Equestrian Sports New Zealand will continue to support the future of retired thoroughbreds this season, with the TiES series bridging the gap between the two communities.

Among the competitors in this season’s series, which is supported by NZTR with $76,000 worth of prizemoney, will be Laura Knight, who has a long and successful history in retraining and competing thoroughbreds.

A former trainer herself, Knight prepared 20 winners including Ready Eddie, who won the 2017 Grand National Hurdles (4200m). Her husband, Stephen Nickalls, has trained winners up to Group Two level, and the pair have plenty of thoroughbreds residing at their Rangiotu property.

“I used to train racehorses for about 10 years, probably the best I had was Ready Eddie,” Knight said.

“Now Stephen has the racehorses and I run a bull farm, work part-time for Andrew Birch at New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing, and have a couple of sporthorses, including a thoroughbred.”

Knight has been competing thoroughbreds since she was a young teenager, producing several from straight off-the-track to compete at the high levels of show jumping and eventing.

“I started out as a 13-year-old girl on a thoroughbred, that was my first horse. He was called Polar Blast and Alistair Good from Foxton had trained him,” Knight said.

“He went through to jump about 3* eventing and show jumped 1.2m, we just learned together. It was a big learning curve along the way.

“I had a really special one called Sir Arthur and I show jumped him up to 1.3m and he evented to 1*, he was a very cool little horse.

“Another standout was Ricmeister, he was by Westminster and I produced him up to 2*, show jumped him around 1.2m, before I broke my leg quite badly. My friend Catherine van Tuyl then took him over, she jumped 4* and he was just a super horse.

“I had a beautiful grey that John Wheeler trained called Chivas Royale, I won the Young Event Horse on him in the South Island before he was sold to Lizzie Green.

“She took him to England, and then he went to Joe Meyer and competed in the Kentucky 5*.”

A son of His Royal Highness, Sir Arthur earned points for Knight in the earlier years of the TiES series, where from 2014, thoroughbreds were able to earn points in eligible classes across the season in six disciplines.

Over the past decade, the series has developed significantly, and new in 2023/24 was the TiES Futurity Series, introduced specifically for horses in their first or second registered year of ESNZ competition.

This eligibility status was an ideal option for Knight with her more-recent addition ‘Popcorn’, a lightly-tried racehorse of whom she sourced through JumpStart, an NZTR Accredited retraining business in Palmerston North.

“I have a cracking little thoroughbred for the series this year and he came through JumpStart, a rehoming business run by a good friend of mine (Dana Sutton),” Knight said.

“She’s been doing it for about two or three years, and the reason why I came about getting Popcorn was not because I was in the market for another horse. We have more than enough thoroughbreds here as it is, but he was every girl’s dream.

“He’s got the chestnut with four white legs and a big white face, and the best temperament. I just couldn’t say no when I saw him, and I thought he would be perfect to have a go at the TiES series with.

“His race name was Got The Gold and Gary Vile trained him, he had about two starts and he was retired because he liked to sit down in the starting gates.

“I got him as a late three-year-old and took him really slowly through his four-year-old season, just to give him some time to mature and get going.

“He’s been out now and jumping around a meter, I think he’s very versatile in everything he does. I’ve evented him, I’ve taken him to pony club shows, and I won the Wanganui Winter Hack Series on him run over three weekends, which is pretty cool for a four-year-old.

“I’ve since contacted Gary and his breeder filling them in on what he’d done and they were just over the moon.”

In the coming months, Knight will compete on a regular basis around the lower North Island, including at the Central Districts Show Jumping Championships, which she plays a key role in running.

“From this weekend to March, we’ll probably be at a show every second weekend, I’ll be aiming him at the TiES series for show jumping and it’s between 80-90cm,” she said.

“It’s quite good because there are a number of TiES classes near us, we have one at Central Districts Show Jumping Champs, so hopefully I’ll be able to start Popcorn there. It’s on the 12th and 13th of October at Foxton.

“I’m just about to register him now, I didn’t compete in this last year because the height was a meter, and I felt was just a bit too much for a four-year-old.

“This year, they have dropped the height, and it’s so much more appealing for these first and second year horses. I think it’s a great way of showcasing how cool thoroughbreds can be off the track, it gives them a purpose.

“I find the thoroughbreds really forgiving, they are so trainable and when you get a good one, they will try so hard for you.

“With Popcorn, I’ve taken him to sports days with my eight-year-old daughter on her pony and we can ride around together, which you don’t always find in a warmblood.”