Eighteen year-old William Whitaker riding Insul Tech Leonardo raised the roof of the Grand Hall last night taking the Accenture Christmas Puissance and becoming the youngest ever winner of the Olympia Puissance.

William, based in Whatton, Nottinghamshire with his Uncle Michael, was the youngest competitor in the class and riding in his first ever Puissance. He was the only one of the three riders who made it through to the fifth and final round to jump the 2.16m wall clear.

In this afternoon’s Rolex FEI World Cup Qualifier presented by H&M, Nick Skelton narrowly missed out on victory by just 0.68 seconds. In what can only be described as a sensational display of top class show jumping, the world’s leading lady rider, Ireland’s Jessica Kurten kept the full to capacity crowds on the edge of their seats to beat former dual Olympia World Cup winner Nick Skelton riding The Hales Family’s Arko III. Four Brits made it through to the seven man jump off. John Whitaker and Rebecca Stones’ Peppermill finished in fourth, Tim Stockdale and John Bosher’s Fresh Direct Corlato took fifth and Michael Whitaker partnered Gillespie Equestrian’s Suncal Portofino 63 to seventh place.

This evening saw The H&M British Challenge – a class specifically for the eleven Brits competing at the show. Just four riders jumped clear in the first round but it was British show jumping legend John Whitaker who was “The Best of The Best”. Riding Clare Whitaker’s seven year-old Belgian bred Azucar he beat his eighteen year old nephew William Whitaker into second place by less than one second. Mark Armstrong and Emma Armstrong’s Lavaletta II finished in third place.