Robert Whitaker and Vermento land the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Helsinki
Monday 28 October 2024
.jpg "Robert Whitaker and Vermento land the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Helsinki")
Robert Whitaker used skill, determination and daring to land the second leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League 2024/2025 in Helsinki, Finland, with Caroline and Stephen Blatchford’s Vermento.
“Vermento was amazing, he was looking ahead to every fence,” said Robert, who last won Helsinki’s World Cup qualifier with Catwalk five years ago.
It was an afternoon full of agility, control and focus at the Helsinki Ice Hall as Brazilian course-designer Guilherme Jorge designed a 13-fence, 16-effort 1.60m track with short turns and tight lines demanding accuracy and focus. Nonetheless, quality was abound in the 39 competitors forward and 13 supplied clear rounds to advance to the jump-off.
Third-drawn Steve Guerdat for Switzerland – three-time winner of the World Cup Final with Albfuehren’s Paillie (Las Vegas, USA, 2015), Corbinian (Gothenburg, Sweden, 2016) and Alamo (Gothenburg, 2019) – gave a masterclass to take an early lead with Is-Minka, wiping 1.33 seconds off Sweden’s Amanda Landeblad’s opening round on For Killy – initially produced in Britain by Danny Dunne.
The lead was short-lived. Vermento wasn’t expected to be the fastest horse in the competition, but he proved to be the most agile and Robert took advantage at every turn on the twisting jump-off track. Gaining time throughout as he navigated tight turns and tricky lines, especially daring on the tight turnback to the FEI Vertical, Robert finished with a flourishing gallop to the final vertical, knocking 0.72 seconds off Guerdat’s time.
It was a stretch too far for the athletes that followed, although eight double clears were recorded. France’s Kevin Staut came the closest, slipping Dialou Blue PS into second, coming within 0.27 seconds of the winning time.
Robert was naturally thrilled with the win on the 11-year-old Argento x Skippy stallion – bred by his father John.
“He was looking for every fence. I think our round yesterday helped him, he had one fence down and he’s a horse that doesn’t like to make mistakes, so I think that made him extra sharp today,” said Robert.
The win shot Robert up the leaderboard to fourth place after round two of the Western European League, five points behind the leader, Brazil’s Yuri Mansur.
Robert is unsure whether he will be in Lyon, France, next week for the next leg – “I’ll discuss my schedule with the Chef d’Equipe, personally I prefer Madrid and A Coruna [Spain] in December – it seems good to me to jump two shows in a row,” he added.
Image credit: FEI/Hanna M Heimomen Photography
