A fantastic field of top class horses and riders came forward for the Final at the British Open for the BSJA Winter A & B Final yesterday evening. Having qualified with league points and a ‘last chance’ wild card held across the Premier Shows during the past three months this Championship class now in it’s second year is an incredibly popular one for anyone producing British Team horses.
It was Ellen Whitaker with Cortaflex Kanselier who thrilled the crowds securing first place by almost two seconds taking incredibly tight twists and turns. Bob Ellis, International Course Designer asked many questions of the six riders that got through to the Jump Off ensuring that the best horse/rider combination came through. Talking to Ellen afterwards she commented “Bob as always built a superb course. It was a course I knew I’d have to take some risks on and really think about the way I was going to approach it. It really paid off for me and I’m thrilled winning the class. Cortaflex Kanselier just couldn’t have gone better and it was a great start to the show”.
In second place was Paul Barker on Lynn Barker’s bay gelding Quinton who jumped a faultless two rounds relegating Scott Brash from Brendon Stud with Intertoy Z into third place in a time that had less than a second between them. Tim Gredley riding Rowena Gredley’s eight year old Timo IV took fourth securing the only other double clear round of the competition.
Michael Mac, Chairman of the British Show Jumping Association, commented “This series is considered of utmost importance to the future of British Show Jumping. It allows many of our top riders the opportunity to produce both existing and potential British Team horses – it is with this in mind that the UK Show Jumping Development Fund has supported this class and watching the Final this evening it’s all too evident that Great Britain has a wealth of talent coming through”.
- CORTAFLEX KANSELIER- Ellen WHITAKER (GBR) 5000 0.00 0.00 35.83
- QUINTON- Paul BARKER (GBR) 4000 0.00 0.00 37.82
- INTERTOY Z - Scott BRASH (GBR) 3000 0.00 0.00 38.67
- TIMO IV - Tim GREDLEY (GBR) 1800 0.00 0.00 40.69
- PEDRO - Geoff BILLINGTON (GBR) 600 0.00 4.00 38.84
- MAESTRO DE REND PEINE - Nicole PAVITT (GBR) 300 0.00 4.00 46.98
