Clare and Cesar rule the Melton

Clare King achieves a lifetime ambition by winning the most famous of all hunt races

- By LUCY ELDER

“THIS is all I've ever wanted to do!” said Clare King, on winning the 69th edition of the Melton Hunt Club Ride with her faithful campaigner, Cesar Et Rosalie.

The consistent duo are a familiar sight among the leaders on the hunt ride circuit and have numerous wins and placings to their name. To win the Melton is the sweet realisation of a lifetime's ambition for Clare.

“It was a tough start to the course, and there were so many loose horses - by fence six or seven, it was just a job to avoid them. Then it's total luck of the draw,” said Clare.

Freddie White and eight-year-old Joe Dadancer gave the field a cracking lead through the lion’s share of the ride. Joe Dadancer showed scrupulous honesty when he was all but carried out by the loose horse ahead of the switchback hedges, but still managed to find a takeoff spot. It was near this section, too, that Clare narrowly avoided a repeat of her 2024 experience.

“Last year, I was going great when I was T-boned by a loose horse and brought down,” she said. “This year, exactly the same was about to happen again around fence 16/17 - so I said, ‘Right, let’s get away from this!’ It was a guessing game as to whether those horses were going to go right or left.”

She added: “At the bridlepath crossing three from home, there was a complete pileup. Full credit to him, I turned him and he jumped it from two trot strides. That's what won it. He was good to jump it from that.”

A TRUE TEST