Hickstead feels pinch

The loss of Traxdata, the digital technology company who poured well over £1m a year into British show jumping, has left riders and show organisers feeling the pinch.

The company, which has been put into the hands of receivers, supported four riders – Peter Charles, Tim Stockdale, James Fisher and Philip Spivey. They were also generous sponsors at the two Hickstead meetings, The Horse of the Year Show and the Olympia Show Jumping Championships.

"We're terribly sorry to lose them," Lizzie Bunn, secretary of Hickstead, said. "Part of the money has been paid for this season and both shows will go ahead. Traxdata were contracted to 2003, so we may have more of a struggle next year and the year after."

Plans to run The Traxdata, a new contest which would have carried the richest prize money in Britain, have had to be aborted. With its top award of £40,000, this would have attracted most of the world's leading riders to the Derby meeting in August, and Bunn said: "But the concept is still there and we will try to find a sponsor for it next year."

GREAT BRITAIN TEAM (Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead, Sussex, 25-29 July): M Armstrong, D Lampard, S Smith, M Whitaker.