Adrian Speight claims his second International Stairway win at the Great Yorkshire Show
Thursday 13 July 2023
Adrian Speight is on a roll with Judith Whitham’s Millfield Baloney and claimed back-to-back International Stairway wins, following up his Royal Norfolk win with victory at the prestigious Great Yorkshire Show.
The successful pair have hit a recent run of form as the two International Stairway wins followed their Royal Highland Grand Prix win.
But their winning round wasn’t without controversy. Last year, their video went viral as a huge gust of wind blew the fence down towards them on the approach. Unbelievably, the same thing happened this time.
“Same horse, same rider but a different fence! I cannot believe it happened again! This time the planks hit the floor when we were a couple of strides away and we popped over the bottom plank at about 2ft high,” said Adrian, who remained unfazed along with Baloney. “I’ve got the experience now and knew we had to keep going. I said to Frank [Grunnill, collecting ring steward] as I left the arena, ‘I’ve always got plenty of wind!’ I think I’ll need a kite next year.”
Twenty-one tackled the 1.50m International Stairway track on the brilliant green turf of the Great Yorkshire main ring with six supplying clear rounds to go forward into the jump-off. Mark Edwards, who currently sits at the top of the leaderboard, doubled his chances with two rides in the final shake-up.
Phillip Miller was the first to provide a double clear on Don Royale but was immediately overtaken by Mark and Royale Tale. But Adrian was out for the win and the Balou Du Rouet x Kanudos 17-year-old belied his age with a swift turn of foot to secure the top spot.
Mark – who has three International Stairway wins to his credit this season – on second ride Flying Tinker chased hard. He came close, coming within 0.23 seconds to slot into second ahead of first ride Royale Tale in third, leaving Phillip to settle for fourth place.
“I had to be quick as I had Mark following on his fastest horse but he [Baloney] is unbelievable and keeps delivering the goods,” said Adrian. “We’re here for the Cock o’ The North on Thursday and then we’re off to the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead; we’ve got into the five-star classes and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mark and Flying Tinker remain at the top of the International Stairway League Table on 38 points but Adrian has leap-frogged up to second with Baloney now five points behind on 33 points. Mark is also in third on 31 points with Royale Tale.
Great Yorkshire Show – Wednesday, 12 July 2023
International Stairway
1st Adrian Speight & Millfield Baloney – 0/0 45.42 seconds
2nd Mark Edwards & Flying Tinker II – 0/0 45.65 seconds
3rd Mark Edwards & Royale Tale – 0/0 46.27 seconds
4th Phillip Miller & Don Royale – 0/0 55.15 seconds
NB: Qualifications will be updated pending official grading of results.
The International Stairway, supported by the British Showjumping Partnership with funding from sponsors including Charles Owen, ClipMyHorse.TV, HorseQuest and Zebra Products.
Image: Kate Mallender
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