Failed racehorse up for retraining award

A failed racehorse who has been retrained has been revealed as a finalist for a national award.

Daisy Adamson, 31, from Essex, bought Sugar Rush in 2015, after Newmarket trainer Michael Bell decided racing was not for him.

But Sugar Rush - also known by his stable name Marley - is up for the horse of the year title, awarded by the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) charity.

Adamson said the nomination meant "everything because I practically live my life for Marley".

"He proved that after racing, you can do whatever you like with him," said Adamson, who is from Little Hallingbury, near Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire.

"You polo stick and ball with him one day, and then compete in dressage the next day."

The 14-year-old horse has won various accolades with the RoR over the last three years, which included winning national dressage championships.

Adamson told BBC Essex Sport Extra presenter Ian Puckey that Marley was "extremely special" and had done "everything that I ever wanted him to do".

Sugar Rush received seven months of race training and Adamson said she did not understand why he was not successful.

"You could train him to do anything now," she said.

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