John Crippen Claims SEIB Winter Novice Championship Qualifier at Hartpury Winter Classic
Wednesday 24 December 2025
A fiercely contested SEIB Winter Novice Championship Qualifier took centre stage on day two of the Hartpury Winter Classic Show, with combinations all vying for a coveted ticket to the prestigious final at the Royal International Horse Show.
An impressive 58 starters came forward in the opening round, with 26 advancing to the second round. From there, 17 combinations made their way into a thrilling jump-off, where six managed to produce double-clear performances across all three phases.
Jumping from a mid-draw, John Crippen rose to the challenge and delivered a composed yet decisive round to secure the win. Riding Cersei, a six-year-old mare owned by Tracy Gray, Crippen produced the fastest treble-clear round to take top honours, stopping the clock in 36.95 seconds and earning his place in the final.
Talking about his win, John said: “I really like that this class has gone back to three rounds; it’s a nice touch, and I’m always a fan of Krissy’s [Spiller, Course Designer] courses. She builds them just enough to have a good class, but not so much that you need to ride crazy.
“I thought we had a good chance. She jumped well in the UNIBED Winter B&C qualifier the day before, so I was confident, but you can never be 100% sure. She jumped three very good rounds. There was a turn into the second-to-last where you could cut inside, but I chose to go around the fence and keep her moving. We ended up going at the fence more like a steeple chase fence, but it paid off.
“She’s a sensitive mare, very careful, but can sometimes try too hard, so we are working on keeping calm, and then she’s perfect. We’ve had her about a year, and she hadn’t really done anything before that, so she’s come on really well.
“We can’t do this without Tracy Gray, who owns Cersei. She has five horses with us at the moment, and her support is invaluable to us,” added John.
The competition remained tight throughout the jump-off, with Tom Harrison taking second place aboard Ti-Amo Van’t Elshout, while Leo Lamb completed the podium in third with Amy Du Chateau Z, both delivering strong performances in a highly competitive field.
SEIB Winter Novice Championship Qualifier
Hartpury University
1st – John Crippen & Cersei – 0/0/0 36.95
2nd – Tom Harrison & Ti-Amo Van’t Elshout – 0/0/0 37.35
3rd – Leo Lamb & Amy Du Chateau Z – 0/0/0 39.48
NB Results pending final grading
Image: Jasmine Punter Photography
