A rejected racehorse saved from death after failing to win enough races has been honoured for a string of national trial victories.

Swift Alliance may be no Red Rum or Desert Orchid but trainer Jonathan Martin knew the nag could be a winner.

And Jonathan, from Barnham near Bognor, has had his faith repaid.

Swift Alliance has won a top national competition, beating off hundreds of other ex-racehorses retrained as riding horses.

Jonathan and his horse were honoured at the British Horse Foundation's breeders awards dinner at the Olympia Hilton Hotel in London, where the trainer collected a top award for showjumping.

When he first heard about Swift Alliance, the five-year-old thoroughbred was facing the death penalty.

He had only won one race and his owners wanted to get rid of him.

Jonathan, 29, said: "He just wasn't winning the top races, which is what they wanted him for. He was never going to win Goodwood or Ascot because he did not have the speed.

"The owners decided to drop him a grade and he did win one race but they did not want him to compete at that lower level.

"Eventually, horses like that are run into the ground and come to a sticky end because they are more than likely shot."

Jonathan decided to buy the horse and retrain it for showjumping.

Although he admits their first competition did not go to plan - Swift Alliance threw him off - the pair have since gone on to win several showjumping competitions and the horse is making money.

Their success has not gone unnoticed.

Swift Alliance has been named as one of six winners of a national competition called Racehorse to Riding Horse, which honours ex-racehorses that have been rescued and retrained.

The thoroughbred beat off competition from hundreds of other horses to win the competition's showjumping title.

Jonathan, who has retrained two other ex-racehorses at his parents' farm in Lake Lane, Barnham, said the secret to their success was the partnership between him and the horse.

He said: "I don't believe you can see the horse as a commodity but it helps that Swift Alliance is very laid-back and has the right temperament for what he has gone on to do."