Joe Stockdale lifts the top-billed four-star Grand Prix with Cacharel in Arezzo
Tuesday 07 April 2026
Joe Stockdale left the best until last on the Toscana Tour in Arezzo, Italy, with victory in the final day’s feature 4* Grand Prix with Cacharel, the mare enjoying jumping back at Grand Prix level.
“It is good to have her back, she’s jumping really good and enjoying herself and feels better than ever,” said Joe.
Italian course-designer Uliano Vezzani set a challenging track for the 50 Grand Prix participants, the tough 13-fence, 16-effort course testing with loops and technical questions, reducing the field to just five for the deciding round.
“There have been so many entries here for the last two weeks with the big classes running a full 100 competitors, and with such numbers, the courses had to be tough, and they followed through in the Grand Prix, but it worked out well for me,” said Joe.
Catching the favourable final draw and with two quick clears already in the bag, Joe knew exactly what he had to do and secured the top spot with smooth, deceptively fast lines on the Cachas z Quinar Z 15-year-old mare – owned by his Mum Laura and Grandmother Joy Cocklin – by 1.07 seconds.
Produced through the grades by his late father Tim, Joe took over the reins in Cacharel’s late seven-year-old year and nurtured her through two and three-star level to four-star classes in late 2019, contending three Nations Cup in 2021 and became a mainstay of the five-star British Nations Cup teams in 2022.
“She picked up an injury in Barcelona in 2024 and, although she wasn’t particularly lame or sore, we gave her plenty of time off and she missed most of last year. I worked with her very slowly and the aim was always for 2026. At her first show back in Spain [Oliva Nova, November 2025] she just jumped small classes, then with lots of work to get her back to full fitness, we pulled her out for her first big show,” said Joe, who still worked on the slow but sure tactics – “For the first two weeks here, we again took it easy before pulling the trigger this week with he Grand Prix our aim, and it worked well.
“In the first two weeks, she was over-exuberant and fresh, and she loved jumping in the Grand Prix – she feels better than she ever has.”
Joe is now looking forward to 2026.
“We’ll recoup from this trip at home as we have a busy calendar of Nations Cup [competitions] and I’ll speak with [British Manager] Di [Lampard] and make plans; I also have my eye on the World Championships,” added Joe.
Jack Whitaker supplies a vital clear for Madrid in Motion to win the first leg of the Global Champions League in Miami and claims second in the feature Grand Prix
Jack Whitaker enjoyed success in the sun at the Longines Global Champions Tour of Miami Beach as a member of the winning Global Champions League winning team Madrid in Motion and topped off the week with second place in the LGCT 5* Grand Prix. On both occasions he partnered a new ride for this year, Izara Des Dames, owned jointly with Adrian Marsh.
“She’s new to me and she’s never jumped this big before, the League was her first 1.60m and then jumped her first five-star Grand Prix and I was unsure how she’d take it,” said Jack. “The arena here is spectacular, with the waves and people from the beach coming up to check it out, so it’s a fun place to ride and spend the week. I won’t forget the LGCT Miami Beach for a long time!”
Course-designers Peter Grant (CAN) and Nick Granat (USA) supplied a 14-fence, 17-effort 1.60m track for a field of 36 in the Grand Prix, but the quality of rider was high and 13 returned clear rounds to advance to the jump-off.
The Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten’s early standard on Beauville Z NOP was quickly relegated by Katrin Eckermann (GER) on Iron Dames Dialou Blue PS by 2.70 seconds, and she remained ahead despite the challenges, and was still resolutely at the top when Jack entered the ring.
Jack put in a strong, solid effort on the 12-year-old mare Izara Des Dames (Emerald x Calvaro FC). It wasn’t enough to depose Katrin, but Jack was thrilled to slip into second spot 1.53 seconds off the pace.
Stepping onto the LGCT podium for the first time Jack Whitaker explained: “It hasn’t sunk in yet, this is a big one for me – it’s the first time I’ve qualified for the Miami Grand Prix and it feels amazing to be back up there. I’m so proud of my mare, she’s a bit inexperienced at this level, so I wasn’t sure how she would handle it. In the jump-off I took an outside turn to give her time, but it just shows her class that she was able to almost match Katrin’s time. I couldn’t have wished for anymore, you couldn’t fault her; she felt even better in the jump-off. She’s all blood and the more you ask, the better she is.”
Jack’s significant first round efforts earlier in the week marked Izara’s intro to five-star level as the Global Champions League roared back into action for the 2026 season opener on the beautiful beach setting. Izara took everything in her stride and, with the shimmering ocean just beyond the arena, provided a vital clear and aided Madrid in Motion to victory.
From the off, the message was clear – Madrid in Motion meant business. With a revised high-stakes, knockout style format and round one now set at 1.60m, the pressure was on from the outset with teams fielding their strongest combinations and only the top 10 from a field of 15 teams progressed to round 2 standing at 1.55m. Delivering a composed, strategic and flawless performance, Madrid in Motion set the benchmark early, experience, horsepower and precision earning them maximum points in the fast-paced competition.
Maikel van der Vleuten was first out for the team and touted a clean round on Quastor VD Heffinck. Cool and smooth, Jack followed suit on Izara Des Dames but proved quicker by almost four seconds, putting them second in the individual competition running concurrently. It also put the team in a strong position at the top of the leaderboard as they went into round two.
Jack’s job was done as Maikel, this time with Beauville Z NOP and Victor Bettendorf aboard Atchoum De La Roque Z took over in round two. In reverse order of merit thus drawn last, the pressure was on to jump clear, but again they excelled to provide a clean sheet for take victory with the only zero score. Valkenswaard United made one mistake and only one fence behind for second place. New team Cairo Pharaohs also finished on four but more than two seconds in arrears for third place on the podium.
“It was a great team effort. It was her first 1.60m and she [Izara] was a little green in places, but she didn’t give up and it didn’t faze her,” said Jack.
Teammate Maikel van der Vleuten said: “Today’s performance - I think we can be very proud of our riders, our horses, and all the people involved who helped us to this victory. It’s a fantastic feeling to start the season with a win, and we’re very happy with that.”
Victor Bettendorf added, “I’m really, really happy with the horses because, yeah, some have a bit of character, but the quality is unbelievable. I was a bit afraid because Eric [van der Vleuten] was putting a lot of pressure on me right after Maikel, so I’m really happy that round saved the victory.”
He continued, “We said we just needed two clears and then we’d be fine. We talked a bit about strategy - not to be too slow in case we had one down - and I think we did a perfect job today. All the riders were amazing, the horses as well, so thank you to the whole team. It’s great to be part of that adventure.”
Jack was also pleased with another new ride of three months, ESM Equestrian’s 10-year-old Skyfall OS (Diamant De Semilly x Heartbreaker), taking top eight places in the 5* 1.45m classes – “I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Louis Wood claims a world ranking second place in Busto Arsizio
Louis Wood guided Filou Moussardiere into second in an early 3* 1.50m at Busto Arsizio, Italy.
Sixty-six came forward in this two-phase Grand Prix qualifier and it was all about the clock as 25 provided double clears. Louis and the selle Francais 16-year-old (Ogrion Des Champs x Limbo) held the lead from mid draw but slipped into second place 0.74 seconds when Poland’s Adam Grezgorzewski found a slightly shorter route on Caramoon Red Z.
Laura Renwick claims a winning double in St Tropez
Laura Renwick scored a victory double on the Spring Tour III in St Tropez Gassin, France.
After taking second in an early 93-strong 2* 1.35m speed, Laura stepped NFS Top Gun to win the 2* Medium 1.40m. Forty-eight competitors contended the two-phase 1.40m with Laura on the home-bred Top Dollar IV x Heartbreaker eight-year-old beating all their rivals by 0.91 seconds.
Laura also topped the Seven-year-old Final with another home-bred; Top Gun’s half-brother NFS Taluga (Taloubet Z x Heartbreaker) heading the 15-horse decider by 0.74 seconds. Both Top Gun and Taluga share their dam – Laura’s former top speed mare and winner of many international classes, Beluga II.
Image: Arezzo Equestrian Centre
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