The British Open Show Jumping Championships came to a dramatic finish today with the capacity crowd enjoying one of the most exciting finals to date. Reigning Champion and this morning’s top rider on the Championship leader board, Robert Whitaker entered today’s final with a jump in hand. Riding his new but extremely talented ride, USA Today, Robert jumped clear in the first round of the final, maintaining his zero penalties score. However, show jumping’s golden girl and Robert’s cousin, Ellen Whitaker had also jumped superbly over the four days of the show and has been hot on Robert’s heels at every step. Ellen followed Robert’s lead and also produced a faultless round to maintain the minimum difference between the top two riders going into the jump-off. Second to last to go in the jump-off, Ellen riding Equimax Ocolado jumped a foot perfect round to finish on four points in a fast time of 48.10 seconds. Robert had to jump clear or be faster with four faults to regain his title.
Entering the arena with a few last words of advice from father John, Robert looked set for the challenge. USA Today cleared the first few fences with plenty of space but his boisterous behaviour in between fences caused Robert to loose time. The atmosphere and tension in Birmingham’s LG Arena was electric with the last jump becoming the decider. At the final fence USA Today produced a characteristic buck just before take off and the combination rolled a pole at the final fence, finishing on four faults in a time of 51.65 seconds. With equal points but a faster time the Championship was Ellen’s. The crowd really appreciated this dramatic ending to four days of intense competition and Ellen and Equimax Ocolado’s fantastic consistency and skill earned them the prestigious title which has evaded them thus far. Ellen commented, “I am so happy! Equimax Ocolado jumped out of his skin and has been so careful every step of the way. This is one title I have been chasing for a while and one I really wanted to win so I am ecstatic with the result and the £25,000 first prize!”
An absolutely inspired piece of riding by Ellen Whitaker saw her take the honours in the Zinc Event Management British Speed Stakes this evening. In front of a packed house, Ellen and her most loyal of companions, 18yr old Kanselier tore the competition apart and finished on an unbelievable time of 49.93 seconds. Kanselier has won numerous speed titles in his career and can always be relied upon to jump cleanly and give it his all. At HOYS last year, the pair won the Vinopolis Speed Horse of the Year in the same flawless style. Tonight’s class resulted in an all-girl top three with Tina Fletcher in 2nd and last year’s winner, Laura Renwick, taking the third spot with her 8yr old up and coming star, Vernon G.
In the first show jumping class of the day, the best British junior riders took to the arena for the John Whitaker International JA Championship. The uncatchable Jessica Mendoza won the class on Tixylix in a time of 30.09 seconds. Timothy Wilks riding the striking skewbald The Colour of Money finished second in 33.66 seconds. Third place went to super speedy Amy Inglis and Nils D’ Hurl Vent who finished in a time of 30 seconds but was unlucky to have a fence down so finished in third place.
The extremely poplar innovative H Factor competition saw the four finalists, Saffron Walden Musical Ride, Rockin’ Horse, the Knights of Middle England and Equestrienne battling it out all week to win the public’s votes for the opportunity to be part of Horse of the Year Show in October. All of the acts were praised for their hard work and preparation for the competition but there could only be one winner. The Knights of Middle England clinched first prize with the largest number of text votes. The crowd favourite provided great entertainment for the British Open audience and were praised by the judges for their polished and engaging performance.
The Working Hunter Grand Prix class returned to the show and proved to be popular 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 the title and the judges were faced with a very tough task to pick the winner as all the competitors were finalists at HOYS. The leaders after the conformation judging were Louise Bell and Cracker but unfortunately she had four fences down in the jumping section so slipped out of contention. This left Emma Nettleton and Winterstorm to take first place. Keep Talking ridden by Joli Smith took reserve for the second year in a row.
For more information and full results click here.