Royal Festival of the Horse - Showjumping
Monday, July 19, 2010
The showjumping Accumulator and Grand Prix courses were designed by Bob Ellis, who said that being given the opportunity to design the Olympic 2012 course was a fantastic honour but made him a ‘little apprehensive’. He said he would be using the same team as for the Europeans 2009, which has been the most satisfying show he had done to date.
Accumulator
Leading off the showjumping action on Saturday was the Royal Festival of the Horse Accumulator, in which riders accumulated points for each obstacle jumped clear with an optional 1.60m joker fence providing the opportunity for additional points. The rider completing the course in the fastest time, with the most points, wins.
Halfway through the running order, Ben Maher, world ranking no 6 and Britain’s no 1, went into the lead on Quainton Quirifino Z. However, riding fourth from last in the 23-strong entry list, John Whitaker, with six Olympics, six European championships and six World championships under his belt, came into the stadium on Argento to deliver what proved to be an unbeatable score of 65 points. His clear round in a time of 51.78 seconds enabled him to pick up first prize of £3000.
The final results were 1st John Whitaker on Argento, owned by Katie Durham, 2nd Ben Maher on Quainton Quirifino Z, owned by the Quainton Stud and 3rd Tim Gredley on BF Utopia. 4th was Sian Price on Step in Time, 5th Patricia Koller on Concettos Boy and 6th David McPherson on Chamberlain Z. The prizes were awarded by Iain Graham, Chief Executive of British Showjumping, and Brian Warren, Chief Executive of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
Speaking to the BBC on his win, John Whitaker said: “We came here on our way to Aachen, so it’s worked out really nicely. Argento’s a really good horse. I think a lot of him.”
Grand Prix
Saturday’s showjumping programme culminated in a jump-off for the Festival Grand Prix, one of the richest grands prix in Great Britain, with a first prize of £10,000. After a nail-biting competition, fought by five world-class competitors, it was Billy Twomey from Ireland on Sue Davies’ Tinka’s Serenade who took honours, with a clear round in 44.37 seconds. John Whitaker and Peppermill, favourites with the crowd, took second place with a clear round in a time of 48.15. Third place was taken by Robert Bevis on Courtney 6. Mrs Cook’s Oscar, ridden by Ben Maher, made the crowd wait a good few minutes while he answered the call of nature centre stage in the stadium, before putting in a round to take 4th place.
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Showjumping
