Sumptuous Sal | Resilient Ollie Rises Up!

Tale of the Cat gelding, Sumptuous Sal, entered the world in October of 2010. Bred in Queensland, this handsome chestnut gelding began his race preparation with trainer, Simon A Miller, before retiring after two trials. Sal showed little promise on the racetrack, and so was placed out on spell before being rehomed.

Sumptuous Sal, or Ollie, was purchased straight off the track by Candice Lowe at five years old. Ollie was Candice’s first horse and was owned for several years before being rehomed to Jess Knight in 2019.

Jess met Ollie while he was out on spell at Yates Equestrian. A friend had tipped Jess off that Candice was looking to rehome Sumptuous Sal and thought he would suit her needs. Upon meeting Ollie, Jess could not dream of leaving without him.

“He has such an amazing presence and personality for the perfect show horse,” commented Jess.

Ollie is described as being quite extra, with a big personality and curious nature. As he is quite a large horse, he can be intimidating to handle, but is smart and trainable and more than willing to learn. Jess took Ollie on with minimal education and worked tirelessly to train him toward their show horse goals. Unfortunately, an injury in 2021 forced Ollie to be out of action for two years before returning to work in the middle of 2023. Jess has hopes to take Ollie to the Show Horse Nationals, and so has persevered with rehabilitation to ensure he returns to full work safely.

Ollie returned to work to claim State Champion Best Presented Thoroughbred, Reserve Champion Thoroughbred Gelding, State Champion Led Show Hunter Thoroughbred and Supreme State Champion Ridden Thoroughbred at the SPPHAWA Thoroughbred and Part bred Championships. Jess expressed her absolute gratitude toward Ollie for his impressive comeback and resilience.

“Having Ollie recover from his injuries and getting back out into the show ring to do so well at the SPPHAWA Thoroughbred and Part bred Championships is definitely our greatest achievement so far. To overcome such setbacks is a dream come true, and I am so grateful for Ollie and how strong he is,” said Jess fondly.

OTTWA wish Sumptuous Sal and Jess all the best for the future, and we hope to one day see Ollie representing Western Australia at the Nationals.