Thursday Round Up from the British Open

The British Open first leg provided a very exciting start to the four day British Open Show Jumping Championship competition. 2008 reigning Champion Robert Whitaker, with the horse he successfully secured the title with last year, Lacroix 9, proved he was not going to let the prestigious crown go without a fight. Riding a swift, foot perfect round in 62.78 seconds, Robert took first place in this speed element of the Championship which puts him top of the leaderboard and in the best position to regain his title. Guy Williams was also in top form, taking second place riding Torinto VD Middelstede with a clear in 63.88 seconds.  Third place went to Robert’s father, 2008 Olympian and general show jumping hero, John Whitaker with Casino. They rode clear in 65.83 seconds. Visit the British Open website to keep up to date with the latest leaderboard.

 

 

In the other International classes today, the Deltasec Challenge and Midland Masters proved to be the perfect warm up for the Championship class. Flying the flag for Britain in the Midland Masters was Robert Smith who won with an impressive time of 29.55 seconds. The British Open is always a good show for Robert and it looks like he is in the same great form this year.  British riders claimed the top four spots with cousins William and Ellen Whitaker finishing second and third respectively.

This year’s Deltasec Challenge also proved to be fantastic display of the world’s top riders. The first round proved challenging for most riders with only five out of the twenty five starters going through to the jump-off. Geoff Luckett produced an outstanding performance, with a foot perfect first round. Geoff had the crowds on the edge of their seats with his ride Brickfield Boy and a winning time of 29.32 as he just pipped to the post French rider Jean-Marc Nicolas by 0.02 seconds. Great Britain had further success with William Funnell taking third place with a time of 33.52 and Ryan Prater closely following behind in fourth with a time of 33.82 seconds. 

In the national classes, twenty-four of the countries’ best Amateur riders kicked of the show in the first class of the day. This class has been introduced to the 2009 British Open and offers amateur riders the chance to compete in an International Show environment. After eight qualifying rounds, held at major equestrian centres across the country, the competition was set to be fierce. Eighteen competitors made it through to the jump-off with Nicky Jennings riding her grey mare, Sky Classic, becoming the first ever British Open Amateur Champion in an impressive time of 32.41 seconds. Hannah Mousley riding bay stallion Temple Croesus followed closely behind in a time of 32.02 seconds and Matt Cartmell took third place in a time of 33.05 seconds riding bay gelding L’image.

 

The evening performance started with the BSJA Winter A&B Grand Prix.  Irish riders Anthony Condon and Shane Breen took the top two places, Anthony taking first place with a fantastic double clear in 40.12 seconds riding Cruisings Mickey Finn, Shane following closely behind riding Mullaghdrin Gold Rain in a time of 40.46 seconds. Mark Bunting took third place riding the bay mare Arlette II.