ould you back r Renault?
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S IT Edward Lear or King r who said: "I know two gs about a horse and one of 1i is rather coarse?" Whoit was, he would have roved his equine knowledge had attended the introducof the new international w-jumping Team Renault -.;ks. It is sponsored jointly by ault Trucks and its Norwich
dealer, Truckstyle.
The team is built around the celebrated 13-year-old bay gelding, Mister Vee, and his equally famous rider, Maureen Holden, whose husband, Tony, himself a great equestrian, is team manager and joint managing director of Truckstyle.
Mister Vee will be accompanied by another grade-A in ternational jumper, French Connection (formerly Rowhedge Mistique), as well as French Revolution, French Mistress and French Raldo.
Travelling in a magnificent new Renault six-horse box with fully equipped living quarters for five, the team is scheduled to take part in 16 events from April until July, including the Badminton Horse Trials and the International Horse Show at VVembley.
The Holdens have refused an offer of £75,000 for Mister Vee, who until 1976 was called Mister .Volvo. In fact he was never sponsored by Volvo but by another Holden enterprise.
I gather that only the top seven riders are allowed to in clude a sponsor's title or brand name in a horse's name or prefix, but don't ask me why. The use in Britain of the name Renault for the lesser-known Saviem and Berliet commercial vehicles is obviously prudent, but to sacrifice the charisma of Mister Vee in favour of the sponsor's own appellation would hardly be sensible.