Grand Prix wins for Oliver Fletcher and Faye Sutton in Opglabbeek
Sunday 19 November 2017
Sentower Park’s FEI Youth Festival in Opglabbeek, Belgium saw British riders once again excel against their European counterparts.
It was a brilliant win in the Pony Grand Prix for Faye Sutton with her mother Jacqueline’s dun gelding Rob Ruadh. Their double clear jump off time of 38.28 seconds saw them take a strong lead ahead of their closest contender Rauiri Aylward (IRE) with Coppenagh Oliver Twist in a time of 39.63 seconds and Tom Wachman (IRE) with Flintstone B in 39.70 seconds. Also in the line up was Tahnia Jordan Jones with the 11 year-old grey gelding Jumper who were the fastest combination on 4 penalties in the jump off taking 5th place.
Giving Great Britain a double Grand Prix victory was 14 year-old Oliver Fletcher who was recently presented with the Leading Rider aged 21 & Under Award at the Animal Health Trust Equestrian Awards. His win came in the Children’s 1.25m Grand Prix with his father Graham’s 11 year-old bay mare Little Business. One of only two double clears he posted a time of 40.04 seconds to relegate Lily Engelsman (NED) with the 14 year-old grey mare Whipped Cream into 2nd place with Max Wachman (IRE) taking 3rd with Cesha Old as the fasted 4 faulter.
Making his presence felt, Oliver also took 2nd in the Junior 1.40m Grand Prix with 9 year-old bay gelding Diskoboy D.N. owned by Lady Pauline Kirkham and Lady Pauline Harris. Their clear jump-off time of 31.63 seconds was just a fraction of a second behind Emilie Conter’s (FRA) time of 31.22 with Viva who took the lead. The only two riders to break the 32 second barrier it was a 3rd place finish for Pam Nieuwenhuis (NED) and Vendorlux with their time of 33.69 seconds.
For full results: http://online.equipe.com/nl/competitions/22370
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