‘I always wondered how I’d replace that crazy buzz’: William Fox-Pitt on what’s next for the greatest five-star event rider of all time
Having announced his retirement from top-level eventing at the end of Mars Badminton Horse Trials 2024, William Fox-Pitt explains how he’s going to fill his time – it won’t be hard.
Even in this new “retirement” phase, William is going to be pretty busy. Visiting him in June 2024, he had just added two eventers from the injured event rider Vicky Brake to his latest “collection”. He’s eventing his mother’s home-bred Violetta for his niece, who’s doing exams, and producing another home-bred, Cusco, for his daughter to compete “one day”.
There are foals by Tomatillo (the clone of William’s five-star winner Tamarillo) and fellow five-star winner Oslo in the fields, and a couple of promising seven-year-olds in BLS Absolutely and Hussard Brun.
We haven’t seen the last of those navy colours giving a cross-country masterclass, but William insists he’s content to “float around novices and have a nice time”.
“They aren’t horses for me, but taking them further along their journey will give me a lot of pleasure. I’ve done the same thing for 40 years; it’s the end of an era, but I’m happy, relaxed and ready for this. And I’m looking forward to Badminton cross-country morning in May 2025.”
Whenever I’d previously interviewed William in the decade before he bowed out at Badminton, he had hinted at an endpoint to his riding career. But the conundrum of how to fill the void in a satisfying manner remained unsolved.
“I always wondered how I’d replace that crazy buzz, and I thought maybe training racehorses, but I don’t need that, because I’ve got my head around the idea that you’re not going to replace it,” he says. “I don’t always need to be sick and terrified and excited and on my next mission – I don’t crave that anymore. I will still have adrenaline doing certain things and find them exciting, but this is a new progression and I’m very happy with it. Now I can say yes to all sorts of other things.”
It’s not like he’s short of commitments. Besides his wife, ITV racing presenter Alice Plunkett, four children, and a large arable farm with property development potential on the non-equestrian side, William still has a yard full of horses, home-breds, and the Olympics beckoning – under two hats. He is trainer and selector for the Brazilian eventing team, as well as coach to Japanese rider Kazuma Tomoto, who has been based at William’s Wood Lane Stables for six years.
“For a moment on Saturday night at Badminton, when I could dream of a hypothetical situation of riding in Paris, we were wondering which job I’d give up,” William chuckles. “I’ve really enjoyed training that calibre of rider while being a current rider at that level. I’m going to miss that direct connection, as it gives you a special bond with your jockeys. I’d like to think it will last a little bit, but I’m prepared that I will soon be a has-been, and that’s OK. Very quickly your validity dwindles.”
We look forward to seeing those navy colours “floating around novices, having a nice time” for a while yet.
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