The penultimate day of the British Open Show Jumping Championships has been an eventful one. Three riders are tying for first place in the Championship competition overnight which will make for a dramatic final tomorrow. Robert, who is on a quest to retain his Championship title, is under serious pressure from Frenchman Kevin Staut and Switzerland’s Pius Schwizer who are sharing the top spot on the leaderboard with him. Only twenty riders will go forward to the final tomorrow. Robert Smith, Guy Williams, Nick Skelton, John Whitaker, Ellen Whitaker, Paul Barker, William Funnell, William Whitaker, Geoff Luckett and Laura Newman have all made the top twenty and will be competing in the Championship final. With the competition open riders will be pulling out all the stops. Can Robert see it through for the third time? Tickets are still available for the prestigious final taking place at the LG Arena in Birmingham tomorrow. For tickets call the Box Office on 0844 581 1301 or book online.
Ellen Whitaker has been in superb form all week and tonight was no different. Taking the Accumulator title with a score of 65 points and an incredible time of 44.99secs Ellen, riding Kanselier, stormed into the lead. Kanselier is a notoriously consistent speed horse and watching them in action is always a pleasure. Guy Williams was the next best Brit taking 3rd place coming in just behind Dutch rider Leon Thijssen. The Accumulator is always a great spectator’s class for the speed and the drama and the crowd were certainly not disappointed.
In the www.myhorseclub.com Pony Club Home International Show Jumping Final the Welsh team continued their success by maintaining their leading score of eight faults from yesterday’s round one. The team made up of four Pony Club members, were delighted to be crowned the first ever www.myhorseclub.com Pony Club Home International Show Jumping champions. The Scottish team finished second with a total of 20 faults while Ireland and England finished joint 3rd with a total of 28 faults.
The brand new Working Hunter Grand Prix class proved to be popular this morning with a selection of the top working hunter horses battling it out for the title. The crème de la crème came to the British Open to claim this new title and the judges were faced with a very tough task separating this class of competitors. Talk Talk with Tim Fairburn was crowned the winner with Keep Talking and Joli Smith taking Reserve.
In addition to the show jumping, Team Vinopolis was victorious in the British Open Arena Polo. Dean Lines, Mikey Henderson and Oscar Mathies secured victory over opposing team Zinc, comprising of Howard Smith, Philip Baker and Will Almond, 10 -7. It was a highly charged game with both teams really battling for the title. The team enjoyed rapturous applause from the thousands of spectators and provided great entertainment with lots of thrills and spills.
Rounding off the evening entertainment was the British Open Indoor Cross Country competition, featuring top international event riders including Oliver Townend and Jeanette Brakewell. The fast and furious competition was won by 2006 champions Mark Kyle and Drunken Disorderly. Midway through the competition Mark set a very impressive time of 40.55 seconds. Oliver Townend and ODT Sona Rovatio weren’t quite quick enough to catch him and were placed a credible second in a time of 41.10 seconds. Gemma Tatterstall and Ollie Artois finished third and last year’s champion Georgie Spence followed in forth.
For more information and full results see the website.
A limited number of tickets are still available for Sunday’s Championship Final. Book online or call the Box Office on 0844 581 1301.